The Snowflake
by Da-Awesom-One
Summary: No two snowflakes look the same... Or so he thought before he met her. His first ever believer. But now it's up to him to help her control her powers of ice and snow, bring back Summer, and save the kingdom. It won't be easy, but he knows that whatever comes their way, they'll brave the storm together. (Retelling of Frozen with Jack. Original songs included! UPDATED FOR FROZEN 2.)
1. Prologue: No Two Snowflakes Are The Same

**DISCLAIMER: Disney, Dreamworks, and William Joyce own Rise of the Guardians, The Guardians of Childhood, and Frozen respectfully. I do not own the characters or songs involved, save for several original songs written by myself. There will be a disclaimer whenever these songs are displayed. This story was written solely for the purposes of recreational reading and writing purposes only. No profit is being made from this story.**

**REPEAT: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, FROZEN, OR THEIR SONGS. NO PROFIT IS BEING MADE FROM THIS STORY.**

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

_"Singing"_

***(Song Title - Source/Artist)***

**The cover art was created by jomakesart, also known as the great hotcuppahjo! Check at her profiles on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram, her username being jomakesart!**

**AN - 6/27/2020: This prologue, along with Chapter 2, have been updated to line up with the events depicted in Frozen II.**

* * *

***(Vuelie - Disney's Frozen Original Soundtrack)***

* * *

_...Snowflakes... Interesting little specks, aren't they?_

_Think about it. Most people tend to overlook them. I mean, why wouldn't they? From a regular stand point, they're just little white dots floating in front of you when it snows. Thing is, they're not at all the same. You'd need to have a careful eye to spot the differences. _

_Like, **very** careful. I'm talking about the eyes of a hawk, here, or at least a microscope._

_Snowflakes rarely, if **ever,** look exactly the same as the other. As a guy who conjures them for a living - if you could call what I do **'living'** \- I can say with one hundred percent certainty that it's true!_

_Yeah, sure, every now and then I get a pair that **might** look like one another, but once you get down to it, they're not the same. The difference could be as simple as the **tiiiiiiiniest** little chip on the corner. I swear, man, it's almost mathematical, though I'm not the person to ask about stuff like that._

_But yeah, I've conjured up every snowflake I could possibly think of, and never have I ever seen the same one more than once. And I've had quite the long time to keep an eye out, too, lemme tell ya._

_I've never seen the same snowflake twice... except for **once.**_

_Now, this particular snowflake was special, because it didn't belong to Nature. It belonged to **her.**_

_That Snowflake was a gift. __A blessing that would change the lives of her people... and mine._

_This is our story. The story of her, and her family. Of her sister, who loved her unconditionally in ways I never could. Of how the name 'Jack Frost' spread across the world, thanks to her. Of how we met, and how she changed everything for me. Of how we grew together... and how she became the only woman I ever loved._

_The story of me, and my Snow Queen... My Elsa._

* * *

***~*~*~ _The_ Snowflake ~*~*~***

* * *

***(Song End)***

* * *

_So, to start this story off right, we gotta start back a bit. I mean, **waaaaay** back. Like, even 'before my time' back._

_**All magic comes from the stars.** This is the principle that governed the natural universe, from all the way back to what we now call__ The Golden Age. A time where cosmic travel was abundant, airships would cross the Sea of Stars, and imagination and fairness were the norm. __Basically, from what I heard later on, it was a pretty cool time to be alive._

_But like all good things... it had to come to an end. _

_Nightmares and shadows ravaged the Golden Age, destroying the prosperity they had made for themselves. The Nightmare King, Pitch Black, set out to destroy it all, turning everything into Nightmares! The Dark Ages had begun. _

_At the end of it, life was still here, but not without a price. And one of the most prominent survivors of this catastrophe was the son to the Lunanoff family: Tsar Lunar Lunanoff the XII. The one who would grow up to become the Man in the Moon... AKA Manny. _

_Throughout his flight, he had lost both of his parents, and ended up landing on - you guessed it - the Moon. His buddy, Sanderson Mansnoozie the Sandman - that's another mouthful, so let's just call him 'Sandy' - was another prominent survivor, having also escaped Pitch's onslaught. Manny saw Sandy through this big telescope he had, and together, formed a pact to protect the people of the blue and green planet they had stumbled upon: Earth._

_These would be the first two members of The Guardians. Manny would be the Guardian of the Children of Earth, and Sandy would be the Guardian of Dreams._

_The rest after that is ancient history. The Dark Ages continued, fear being more present than ever before. But before long, more members were added to the fold. _

_Nicholas St. North, or Santa Claus, as people call him nowadays. He's the Guardian of Wonder. _

_E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny... Or Kangaroo. Pooka? Is that what he's called? I dunno, it just seems to me that he's still just a pretty big rascally rabbi- I'm getting off track. He's also a Guardian; the Guardian of Hope. _

_And finally Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy. She's the Guardian of Memories._

_Together, they managed to drag the Boogeyman back into his hole, bring an end to the Dark Ages, and usher in a new age of peace. One that wouldn't be threatened for years to come. It was the dawn of a new Golden Age..._

_Dang it, got off topic again. None of that has anything to do with my story... Well, **kinda,** but not too much as of yet._

_As the Guardian of the Children of Earth, Manny would always be watching from afar. With his big telescope, he could see everything and anything that happened on Earth. Nothing was beyond his sight._

_...But of course, Manny couldn't see **everything. **And just because he could **see** something, didn't mean he **understood** it. He's not all-knowing, you know. If he was, well... I think then some things would've been handled better, but hey, who doesn't like a surprise every now and then?_

_After all, this whole series of events started long ago, in the Golden Age, when he was a baby. And it didn't start unraveling until hundreds of years after the fact... But more on that later._

_The start of this story, which eventually spirals into something far grander than anyone had was wanted it to be, began with a simple argument. A failure from one side to understand the other. A deception._

_By the time I got involved, it was way too late to do anything about it. _

_**Years** late._

* * *

"...What the heck is this?"

A lone figure stood across a massive, almost ethereal wave of fog, glowing almost invitingly though the colored particles floating in front of him. It stretched along a great distance, extending wide for miles on either directions like one ginormous wall. He would know. He had found out about it when he was flying over the _ocean._

"This wasn't here before..." he muttered to himself, scratching his head in thought.

Looking back at all of the previous times he had flown past here, there had been a forest here. In fact, some of the treetops had even peaked out a bit from the top of the fog as he flew by. However, he hadn't really bothered to look what was inside. He had first woken up in a forest, after all, so he knew what to expect...

...Even though he _had_ gotten a weird feeling every time he looked upon this particular forest. And now, all of a sudden, it was gone?

What had happened?

Curious, he stalked forward, holding tightly to the staff in his hands, holding it against him as he entered the fog-

Only to forced back abruptly, a sudden wave of pressure pushing the figure away from he fog, though not painfully. It was almost as if he had walked into something soft and bouncy, and it had inflated back against him.

Even so, the pressure had made him fall back on his rear, surprised over what had happened. Scrunching his face he got to his feet again, and once more tried to venture into the unknown, only to be pushed back again.

The third time, he adjusted his belt, took a few more steps back, then ran towards the fog. The result this time was that the push back was way more harder than his previous attempts.

This continued to go on and on, each attempt just as fruitless as the last, making him grow more and more frustrated.

Then came the final attempt.

He had summoned a wind both soft and furious in his wake, lifting him up into the air, and sending him back miles away. Taking deep breathes, he then ushered the gales to send him forward, flying back towards the wall of fog. Landscapes blurred past him as he approached the forest again, going faster than he had ever flown before. Trees, mountains, snow fields, and then barren plateau that the fog was situated in.

Bracing himself beforehand, the flying figure made contact with the fog, pushing against the magical, defensive force with all of his might.

Something had to give, though... And unfortunately, it was him.

Once more he was forced back, only this time, he was sent back skidding along the ground of the barren field, skipping up every so often as he tumbled harshly on the ground.

"_ACK! OOF! GEEZ! AH! D'OH! AGH! YOW! GAH!"_

Finally colliding hard with a hard stone embedded on the ground, the tumbling figure was sent into the air, spinning vertically backward the whole while

"_AH-a-a-a-a-AHRFFFF!_"

He fell face-first onto the ground, his mug burying itself deeper as he skidded along the gravel. The figure finally stopped after two moments breaths, legs dangling on an arch over his back, before falling flat to the earth beneath him. Shakily picking himself up, he pulled back the cape that had draped itself over his face after he had landed, before spitting out the dirt and dust that had gotten in his mouth with a "_PTH-TOOEIE!_"

Sitting up, he looked back to the seemingly impenetrable wall of fog the loomed before him in the distance, denying him entry to what before he had chalked up to as some regular old forest.

He sat there for a couple of minutes, keeping his glare on the unnatural phenomenon as if doing so would eventually reveal a gap he could exploit. Scratching the back of his head, he finally relented with a sigh, walking back onto the plateau to retrieve the staff he had dropped a while back whilst tumbling.

"Add that to the list of places I haven't broken into yet," he shrugged as he picked up the warrior's wood, before waving it around to usher the wind to take him away.

But _only_ for now. He'd be back.

* * *

_Oh, I'd go back, alright. But that wouldn't be for a while._

_Not for a good, **long** while._

_I still had things to do before I was ready. _

_For starters... I had to meet my first, and greatest friend._

* * *

**-PROLOGUE END**

* * *

**AN: So, this is a venture I've been entertaining for quite a few years now. While there are certainly others who have tried their hands at this type of outline, I wanted to give it a go, with my own personal spin on things.**

**A few details on this piece: I always wondered how exactly I could incorporate Jack into the story of Frozen later on, and I believe I've found a healthy compromise and method no one has ever used before.**

**Now, the version of Jack Frost I'm using for this story is for sure the movie version, but I've also added some aspects of the Guardians of Childhood series into this to kind of world-build in a way. It will mostly be centered on the movie version, but some characters later on will be based on their backgrounds from the books. You'll see what I mean.**

**And yes, there is going to be lyrics, and singing, and Jack's gonna be part of it. I'll liken his attitude towards it to be similar to Maui in Moana, in the sense that he'll sing, but other times he's gonna call some people out on it. There's definitely fun to be had, especially since the songs he sings will be original pieces written by me. I'll try my best to describe how the music would sound in the Author's Notes before or after the chapters.**

**To be clear, this is an unofficial retelling of Frozen, plus Jack Frost, and other characters. Therefore, I am going to need ideas for when the time for Jack to be a mentor and best friend to little Elsa comes. So any suggestions on your guys' parts would be greatly appreciated. Anything that includes Jack watching over Anna's antics would also be appreciated also.**

**Also, let me be clear now: THERE IS NO RISE OF THE BRAVE TANGLED FROZEN DRAGONS, OR ANY OTHER UNNEEDED SERIES THAT ARE GOING TO BE IN THIS FIC! The only ones are Rise of the Guardians, Frozen, and Tangled due to their cameo in Frozen. If it doesn't make sense in being here, then I have no interest in including it to my plot.**

**And finally, this IS a Jelsa fic. However, they won't be full-on intimate, like kissing. Maybe kissing on the cheek, but nothing too intimate will be official as of yet, especially considering William Joyce's comments on Jack and romance. I want to build up their connection first before getting into that. And even then, it's gonna be a while.**

**Frozen II and Kingdom Hearts III reignited my Jelsa Fever. Let's see how far we can go with this!**

**Again, suggestions and prompts for the years leading up to the Coronation and the deaths of the King and Queen are greatly appreciated. Let me know on the reviews, or even PM me to give your ideas.**

**Thank you once more. And remember...**

**READ & REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 1: Who Needs 'Em Anyway?

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

_"Singing"_

_"Sing" - "Siiing"_

***(Song Title - Source/Artist)***

***~ This chapter features lyrics of an original song written by me. You'll know it is beginning when this symbol appears. The tone for the song this chapter starts off similar to the first For the First Time in Forever is sung, not the Reprisal. The beginning is supposed to sound like after the chorus is sung the first time, when she's singing about "The One." The chorus of this song, however, is to be imagined to sound similar to the instruments playing when Jack is first experimenting with his powers in Rise of the Guardians. Between when's running around, firing ice, and then the wind takes him to the air, and he crashes onto the tree.**

**Towards the end, it should sound more somber and sad. You will see why.**

**Or you can use your own imagined melody to go for it. It's your call.**

**And of course, yes, imagine Chris Pine is singing it.**

* * *

***~*~*~ _Chapter One:_ Who Needs Them Anyway? ~*~*~***

* * *

Over the mountains north of the Kingdom of Arendelle, a blustery wind echoed throughout the ridges, cliffs, and rocky landscape. Snow stretched as far and wide as the eye could see, covering all of the stones, trees, and ponds throughout the mountain. Not one inch was spared from this cold spot.

And yet, another louder, echoing sound stretched out from somewhere not too high up, but certainly not too low or close to Arendelle proper. And it was not so much a sound, but a myriad of many others. _*Chinks*_ and _*clanks,* *clinks*_ and _*chunks.*_ All of it sounded out as various tools of hardy trades made contact with ice frozen over a pond in the mountains.

All of it being accompanied by many men singing out loudly as the sun was setting down, signalling the work day's end.

* * *

***(Frozen Heart - Disney's Frozen Original Soundtrack)***

* * *

The mountain men all sang out a hearty song as they worked, their labor involving, it seemed, cutting ice frozen over a mountain spring, chipping it into blocks, and loading them into a sleigh cart with their pulley.

Groups of workers cut through the ice with long, bladed saws requiring two hands to operate. Others used three pronged bars resembling pitchforks to wade them through the water, while others pulled the blocks out of the water with tongs resembling some kind of pincers. Each time they pulled a block out, the person would carry the block over their shoulders with tremendous strength. Others less stronger - some would say smarter - would just slide the blocks to the carts through the water, using the pulleys to lift them into the carts. Some groups used horse-drawn saw blades to cut through the ice faster, while others whittled the blocks down with their pickaxes.

Overall, these ice harvesters had more than enough methods to do their job, and their synchronicity spoke of experience. That in the face of the cold, it was only by working together that they could brave it.

_"Hyup!"_

_"Ho!"_

_"Watch your step!" _

_"Let it go!"_

As each of the workers went about their duties, there was one amongst them that was having quite the difficult time, if only for his stature... and age, perhaps.

The young boy had shaggy blonde hair, brown eyes, and wore a green long sleeved shirt underneath a dark tunic thick enough to fight the cold, with a sash over his waist. He also had dark green mittens over his hands, dark green trousers, and olive green boots lined with fur, and curved at the tips.

The boy was crouched down over the pond, trying to pull an ice block out with his own tongs to a varying degree of success. Sitting next to him was a young reindeer calf around his size, watching as the boy tried to secure his haul.

* * *

_That's, uh, Kristoff Bjorgman, by the way, in case you didn't know. The little critter sitting next to him is his best buddy, Sven. _

_Kristoff's an orphan, who ended up sneaking outta the orphanage one too many times. Kid was free-spirited, so what could you do? He followed the ice harvesters, and watched them perform their craft. This here's one of his early stints with them._

_As for Sven, well, Kristoff found him one day on one of his excursions with the harvesters. Some wolves got the drop on them, he unfortunately ended up getting separated from them. Before long, he ran into baby Sven._

_Poor calf was all alone, hoof trapped on some protruding roots, with no one to turn to, and nowhere to go. The kid figured that they could both use a friend. __Can't blame him. I mean, look at that guy. Imagine seeing a lone baby reindeer, out in the cold, cute as it was. Your heart would melt on the spot._

_Anyway, he had freed the reindeer from the trap he had stumbled upon, though unfortunately that meant leaving himself to the mercy of the wild wolves. Sven, however, was so grateful for Kristoff's good deed, that he ended up galloping back to the kid's rescue, leaving those nasty carnivores eating their snowy dust. They've been inseparable ever since._

_They'd both go on to grow up together. So much so, that Kristoff pretty much spoke for him, and quite accurately at that. Some would say that would have been pretty cool... if it didn't make the big lug look like a total weirdo. Not to mention all the other odd stuff they did together._

_For example, sharing each other's food... **Yuck.**_

_I mean, I love you guys and all, but, uh... **Yeeeaaah, NO.**_

* * *

The sun had already all but set for the day when young Kristoff finally got his one block of ice out of the pond. Though the boy was rather young enough to carry the block by himself, fortunately, the object he was hauling was ice, so sliding it across the floor was an easier alternative. He still had trouble flipping it onto his little sled, but he managed to do it nonetheless.

Moving quickly, he hopped on top of the ice block, Sven already having been tacked with a rope on the sleigh - a lamp clamped in its mouth - and the duo began to join the others in returning home with their haul.

Especially the others, with their carts full of ice blocks compared to Kristoff's only one.

* * *

***(Song End)***

* * *

_"...Born of cold, and winter hair and blah blah blee bla blabiiiing!"_

_"Through good hair care, and a winter's fair is a frozen bla bla blabiiiing!..."_

"...Is that how it goes?... Is that what you guys were singing? Kinda hard to tell, considering you guys were doing it unison. Makes the words all muddled, and hard to read. Or maybe that's just me?"

The person who had spoken was a figure lying on top of the last cart of ice blocks, feeling perfectly at home there with his left arm behind his head, and his right arm hanging from the side of the cart. On the hand of that arm, and - astoundingly - trailing imprints of frost as the sleigh kept on its trek, was a particularly textured wooden staff, with a round, G-shaped crook on the top of one end. Strangely enough, if one looked closely, one could see frost grouping up around the area where his hand made contact with the shaft, almost pulsating at the touch.

Said person, from a first glance, also had the appearance of a boy in his late teens. He wore a white v-neck undershirt underneath a brown, sleeveless vest. The boy also had a brown shawl that cloaked most of the upper half of his body, though he wasn't fully covered from the position he was lying in. Additionally, both the shawl and the brown vest he wore had frost lining the edges of their length, same as the brown pair of pants he wore, though it was only down towards his feet, which also had wrappings going up to his knees.

The curious boy also had abnormally pale skin, striking blue eyes, and, most astonishingly of all, hair as white as snow.

* * *

_**Aaaaand** there's yours truly. That's right. The guy who looks like he should be freezing to death in that weather, but ain't, is me: Jackson Overland Frost. Or just 'Jack Frost,' as I went by at the time... **aaand** kinda still do to this day, actually. Though considering I forgot my name once already, I think it's fair that I always tend to remind myself what it is every chance I get._

_Now, how do I even know that's my name, you ask? Well, the Moon told me so. And when the Moon tells you something, **believe it.**_

_As for why I was chilling up in Norway around 1826? Well... No reason, really._

_Back in those days, I was still just a wandering nomad, looking for my next adventure, reaping whatever rewards came my way... which were few to none, considering I was pretty much invisible at the time. **Literally.**_

_See, the way our powers work - those blessed by the Moon to be Guardians, that is - is that we need to be believed in. Children have to Believe. And when they Believe in us, we can see an increase of our powers. Well... I'm an exception, I guess. Since I was alone for a long time, I'm used to being able to handle myself. But that's not the point. The point is because nobody believed in me, a lot of people didn't see me for a good long while... And there were many, **many** times where I desperately wanted to know why._

_In this instance, I was still a silent watcher, wishing against all hope that someone - **anyone** \- could see me. So I guess you could say that's why I was there in Arendelle. Like everywhere else I went, I was hoping to find that someone. My first Believer._

* * *

Sitting up from his spot, Jack Frost turned to his side as he looked at one of the miners at the side of a cart. "Seriously, though, what's with all the singing around these parts lately? And I'm not just talking about here. Is it some kind of fad going around?"

The other man said nothing, merely holding onto the cart as their journey back continued.

"Think about it, friend. Sure, singing while you work's understandable. Probably the only way you guys don't go crazy with this job. But does everybody _have_ to sing about _everything_ nowadays? You've even got sad singers every now and then. How can you even sing when you're _sad?_ I don't get it!"

The miner - the foreman, it seemed - spoke, but not to him. "_Ho, lads! We must hurry onward, lest dinner be the least of our concerns!_"

Frost, shrugged, laying back down, his brow dipping somewhat at being ignored, but still rolling along with it. "Yeah, I feel ya. The whole thing's so confusing, why even bother to comment on it? It's just too hard to understand."

Jack once more got up from his resting spot, and crossed his legs in front of him, leaning his staff over his shoulder. "Anyway, you seem to be pretty busy there, pal. Kinda hungry-lookin', too," he chuckled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "So I'm just gonna leave ya to it, and see if I can't find someone else who'll...?"

The invisible wanderer looked back on the sleigh's trail, and noticed a little straggler struggling behind them. A young boy in a sleigh with his reindeer, sitting on top of a block of ice.

Jack arched an eyebrow as he turned back to the other man. "Hey, uh, boss man? Missing someone, aren'tcha?" He then waved a hand over his face. "_Hellooo?_ You guys are kinda leaving a kid behind!"

He continued to move his hand in front of the man's face, until in the midst of his movement, his hand had gone through face. In actuality, his hand had phased through it, thus leaving the man himself unharmed, but leaving Jack with a chill that made him shudder.

It was the only chill that he could feel... and one he found that he hated.

Groaning bitterly, he then shrugged, and hopped up into a crouching position from where he was sitting. "Alright, alright, I get it. You're the boss. I'll go fetch him for ya."

The frozen youth then leapt off the cart, but instead of falling onto the ground, he hovered in the mid-air thanks to gusts of winds suddenly blowing around, and keeping him afloat.

"_Agh! Steady, men! Hold your ground!_" the foreman called out, holding tightly to the cart.

The winter spirit could only sigh as he landed next to the boy's sled. "Jack Frost. Less traveler, more problem solver. No thanks needed, it's a gift," he muttered as he got a good look at the two companions trying to push after the caravan with all the power Sven's little feet could muster. "Not like you can give me one if I asked... So what seems to be the problem here, fellas?"

Suddenly, the small calf stopped in its tracks, and inched its head towards his direction, shocked and bewildered at the newcomer's sudden appearance.

* * *

_Before anyone asks, **yes,** animals can see me. Or rather, certain animals, actually. Namely creatures of winter, or those that have generally been around magic for a while. And I can interact with them, too. So I wasn't really surprised that Sven, a reindeer, would notice me. You don't get any more 'creature of winter' than a reindeer, after all._

* * *

The boy jolted forward as his companion came to a stop, before rubbing the calf on the back. "C'mon, Sven, we gotta catch up!"

"_...I'm **sooorry,** Kristoff! This ice block's too big for me to pull!_"

Jack blinked, and then looked at the boy, who had just spoken in an exaggerated, borderline goofy voice.

"...Did... you just talk for your reindeer, little man?"

* * *

_...But I **was** surprised that the owner of this particular reindeer spoke for him._

* * *

"I know it is, pal, but we've gotta keep pushing! The others are already ahead of us!"

The little reindeer, Sven, was shaking his head, and then inched its nose in Jack's direction.

"_...But **Kristoooff!** I'll never be able to catch up to them! I'm just too **smaaall!**_"

* * *

_...Remember what I said about Kristoff being able to accurately translate what Sven was conveying?... Well, I promise that it's true. That doesn't mean that he didn't need a bit of... **practice **first._

_You can let this time slide, though. I mean, how else is a little kid supposed to know that a winter spirit's standing right next to him? Especially if he doesn't believe in him._

* * *

"It's okay, little guy," Jack assuaged as he knelt down next to the calf. "I don't think he can see me." He then grinned conspiratorially. "But we'll see if we can't fix that in a bit!" The youth then shot up back to his feet, twirling his staff in his hand to that he was pointing the bottom at both of them, "Question still stands, though. What're you two up to?"

Sven blinked at Jack, before turning his head back to look back at his friend.

Kristoff seemed to have misinterpreted the gesture, but tried to assure him nonetheless. "It's okay, Sven. Someday, you're gonna get bigger. And before you know it, we're gonna be the first people bringing in our ice every day! But for now, we just need to make sure we get there soon so there's still some money for us to use."

The little reindeer smiled at the young harvester's words, and then stiffened up, and began following after the caravan. As it passed him, the reindeer gave the winter sprite a look that said 'Sorry, but we have to go.'

Watching them as they approached a slight incline, Frost put a hand under his chin, the gears turning inside his head. "'Someday,' huh?..." As an idea formed in his thoughts, Jack couldn't help the crafty, mischievous grin forming on his faces. "You're in luck, boys. 'Someday' came today!"

The frost sprite then shot forward, managing to stop right next to them in midair, before using his staff to encase the ground in front of the reindeer with frost right as he stepped over the incline.

Immediately upon making contact with the ice, Sven quickly began to lose his footing, his four haunches working hard trying to regain it.

The boy saw it, too, from his seated position, as well as the sudden lurch from the sled. "S-Sven?! What's going on?!"

Unbeknownst to either of them, Jack had gone around behind them, and was not-so-innocently pushing the sled forward with his right toe. "Heads up, Kris. You might wanna hold onto something for this next part!"

Then, he pushed the sled, and Kristoff began to scream as it began to speed off. Sven was bumped into the air by the bow, and, surprisingly, landed right next to his partner on top of the ice block, crying out as their means of travel sped off.

Jack made sure to fly right beside them, using his staff to conjure up an ice trail for their sled to follow, allowing him to make sure that no matter what crazy turns their ride took, he could make sure they ended it safe and sound. Of course, he knew he needed to be on his toes for this.

The first obstacle was only seconds ahead, after all.

"_Look ouuut!_" Kristoff cried out as their sled approach the sleigh that was farthest back in the caravan.

The foreman from before looked over his shoulder, and his eyes widened in shock and fright at the oncoming disaster.

Luckily, Jack was prepared. "Let's go left!" He made the trail go around the cart from the left side, and swerved again to put back on its original path. The winter sprite then had to maneuver it again to make sure that Kristoff and Sven didn't hit any of the other carts.

"_Watch where you're going, bohohohoooy!_"

Behind the free riders, the other sleighs started swerving to the sides, causing some sleighs to hit the other, losing a block or two as Jack's frost trail made contact with them. Fortunately, the shoes on each of the horses were spiked, so they did not lose their balance, with some few having to reorient themselves after the sleighs swished to the sides.

Jack landed on the ongoing ice in front of them, sliding ahead of the pair, but looking back at the chaos he left behind with a slight grimace that didn't _quite_ reach his eyes. "Oh, hehe... _Whoops?_"

Turning over his shoulder, he swerved around to face the incoming forest. "Get ready, kid! The next part's a bit bumpy!"

Jumping back into the air, the frost sprite guided the young harvesters as they passed through the trees. He swerved them to the sides to help them avoid the trees, or any of the snow falling off of them. At one point, he created a ramp over a rock, and the sled went flying up into the air, taking its two passengers along with it. Fortunately, the ice block landed safely back onto the sled, but Sven landed on top of it, followed by Kristoff. Each of the sled's occupants were now on top of the other.

A small river was coming up ahead, making the boy and his reindeer's eyes widen like saucers. Jack, however, had other ideas. He continued to make the ice trail go over the water, but decided to do a little trick about halfway. He made the path arch in a loop, taking the boys on a round trip. Kristoff and Sven fell from the top of the loop, but landed back on the ice block. However, this time Kristoff was on the bottom, and Sven sitting on top of him.

As they made it past the river, Jack spotted several lights up ahead. They were coming onto a small town. A perfect spot to drop them off!

"_This is our stop!_" he cried, going up ahead to make a larger ramp than the one on the rock. Soaring down to the town, he shot out jolts of ice bolts to create a mound of snow. Fortunately, even this far away from the mountain, there were still patches and mounds of snow.

Jack figured one more couldn't hurt, especially for what he needed it for.

He watched with excitement as Kristoff, Sven, the ice block, and the sled all jumped off the ramp, each of them soaring through the air, and aiming right for the mound of snow Jack had made for them. The boy landed first, followed by the reindeer, the ice, and the sled, each making comically, very noticeable silhouettes of their shapes on the snow.

A good thirty seconds passed where nothing happened... After that...

"That... _was sooo... WICKED!_"

Kristoff jumped out of the mound, covered head to toe in snow. Sven followed after, shaking the excess snow off with his body.

"Did you see that, Sven?! We riding through the mountain, and then through the forest! And then the ice! Where did that ice _come from?!_ It even made us do a loop-de-loop, and that's _impossible!_"

Jack floated down near them, leaning back against a wall, and smiling satisfactorily at the boy's excited outburst.

"_I **knooow,** Kristoff! We were going **whoosh-de-whoosh,** and then **whoop-de-whoop!** And we went through that loop-de-loop, and I was sitting on top of your head!_"

"I know! That was weird, by the way, but it was so _cool!_"

The frost sprite laughed in amusement. "Glad to see you enjoyed yourselves, kiddos."

However, from the corner of his hearing, he could hear more laughter. Looking to his right, he saw a trio of other boys running towards the two. One was short, the other lanky, and the last one a bit on the heavyset side.

"Hey, how'd you do...?!" the shortest said, before coming to a halt as soon as he saw who it was. Then, their faces changed from excitement to condescension, giving young Kristoff a mean look. "Oh, never mind, guys. It's just Kristoff trying to talk to his reindeer again," he sneered.

The chubby one laughed meanly as well. "Yeah! He was probably thinking he could hear him this time!"

Said boy scrunched up his face in indignation. "Hey! I can _too_ understand what's Sven saying! It's true!"

"_**...Yeeeaaah!** Kristoff can hear me just fine!_"

Jack facepalmed as the kids merely laughed and jeered at Kristoff's 'translation,' frowning at the other three's remarks.

"We thought something cool was happening, but it's just you being a weirdo again, Kristoff. C'mon, guys, let's go before we catch what he's got."

The other two kids laughed derisively, the lanky one snorting as he did so. Kristoff, merely slumped his shoulders at their comments. But then, he bristled, before calling back out to them.

"_Yeah, you guys go running off, then! It's not like I wanted to be friends with you, anyway! A reindeer's way better than people like you!_"

The calf nodded in assent, looking just as miffed as the boy.

Grimacing, Jack walked over to them, shaking his head at those kids. "Want me to put some ice in their ears?"

Sighing, almost seeming to let all of his frustration go, the boy then gestured to his cart. "...C'mon, Sven. The others are probably catching up..."

Letting out a snort through his nostrils, Sven trotted over to the sled, with Kristoff morosely following him.

The unseen companion, however, slacked his jaw in alarm before following after them. "Oh c'mon, you're not gonna let some brats get you down that easily, are you? What about all the fun you were having just a minute ago?!"

The boy was tying the rope around his calf whilst Jack bent down next to him. "Hey, let's go for another spin. I'll even make sure we pass by those jerks so they can get all jealo-"

All the breath in his lungs seemed to come out all at once as Kristoff walked past him - literally phasing _through_ Jack - as he made to get the block of ice out of the mound of snow.

"W-what?" Jack whispered, before an indignant heat rose out of his gut. "Oh, wait, no! _No-ho!_ There's no _way_ you couldn't have seen me after that crazy ride! Seriously?!"

Kristoff had already taken the ice block out, and slid it back onto his cart.

The invisible lad then turned towards the reindeer. "C'mon, Sven, help a guy out! Let him know I'm right here!"

After setting himself back on top of his haul, the young ice harvester tugged on the rope. "C'mon, Sven. The others probably already went ahead."

"_...Sure thing, Kristoff!_"

Jack's gaped at the reindeer, who could only shrug apologetically as he trotted his way back onto their trail.

Sputtering, he shook his head before frowning indignantly at the duo. "Okay, y'know what?! _Fine!_ Fine. Go on ahead! I would've gotten you guys there sooner, but you guys wanna pretend I'm not here! So whatever! Off with ya! Who needs you two anyway?!"

Sven actually looked back with that, giving him an alarmed, hurt glare.

Jack, however, was unfazed. "Oh, don't you gimme that look, Sven! You haven't been around for as long as I have!"

And so the reindeer went ahead and turned back towards where he was going, certainly not looking back.

Letting out a groan through clenched teeth, the frost spirit began walking in the other direction, left hand shoved roughly into his left pocket, and the right clutching his staff tightly.

Suddenly, he stopped, standing there for a brief moment, before turning his eyes up to the sky. Above him, he could see the full moon shinning as the last traces of daylight faded away.

"...Really? Nothing? _Again?_" Jack said, eyeing the celestial body with a glare.

As was customary to him, the Moon said nothing back.

He then turned to face the moon fully. "I mean, that would've worked if those bullies hadn't shown up! Trust me, there's _nooo_ way that wouldn't have worked! Did you see that ride?! It was _epic!_ They were going all _whoosh-de-whoosh,_ and then _whoop-de-whoop,_ and then they went through the loop-de-loop, and the reindeer was on top of the kid's head! How does that _not_ get him to see me?! It's gonna take me, like, another hundred years to pull another trick like that! Maybe _two_ hundred!"

Again... Silence.

"And _speaking_ of the number one hundred, it's already been _more than one hundred years_ since you've put me here! And still, nobody sees me! _Why?!_ How long do I have to wait for somebody to finally notice me?! Another hundred years? Two hundred years?! A _thousand_ years?! What is it that I'm doing wrong?!"

...No response.

The boy said nothing at first, but then let out a gruff sound that was a mix of both a laugh and a scoff. Jack shook his head in disbelief, and then shook it towards the moon. "That's it. I've had it! I've had it with your silence, and I've had it with everybody and their mother giving me the cold shoulder!" He ran a hand through his hair, scoffing again. "I mean, what's it gonna take?!"

Frost began to count off from his free left hand. "I've started snowball fights, not that they ever let me in on them considering I'm _invisible!_ I've even frosted some windows over to write them messages, and lemme tell ya, those were _not_ the reactions I was hopin' for!"

"I mean, what do I gotta do, huh?!" he groaned, throwing his arms up into the air. "Do I actually have to spell it out for them, o-or _sing it out loud_ to get them to hear me?!"

He was grimacing when he said this. But as the words registered in his head, his expression became pensive as he considered his remark.

In truth... he _hadn't_ tried that.

Jack rubbed his chin in thought as he pondered this new development, his eyes darting left and right like clockwork. Was he really that desperate? Would he _really_ stoop so low? Debase himself in such a way?

"...Oh, what the heck."

...It turned out, as the wind guided him to one of the village's rooftops, that yes. Jack _was_ that desperate.

* * *

_...Hey, don't look at me like at me like that. Singing out loud was popular around this time._

* * *

***(Who Needs 'Em Anyway? - Chris Pine)***

* * *

Jack let out a deep breath as he stormed down the rooftop.

_"This maddening silence's hard to ignore!"_

_"It really does grind my gears to the core!"_

_"What do I gotta do to get some attention around here?!"_

He gestured to no one in particular as he sang that. Before long, he caught the familiar sight of the three bullies that had teased Kristoff earlier. Furrowing his face in anger, he hovered down towards them. Scooping up some snow, he shaped it into a snowball, before rearing his arm back.

_"Do I have to throw some more snowballs?"_

He threw it at the shortest one, their leader. The force of it was enough to make him fall forward, causing his other cohorts to laugh out loud at his expense.

_"Make some ice patches to watch 'em fall?"_

He slid past the heavyset one, and extended his staff to make a patch of ice beneath his feet, making the boy loose his balance and fall on his rear.

_"Or put a little frostbite-" _Jack stuck his finger in his mouth, then jammed it into the lanky boy guffawing at both of his friends, making him stiffen up, stock-still, _"in their ears?"_

Frost once again heatedly looked up at the moon, stamping his foot on the ground. _"Well, y'know what? I'm making my stand!"_

_"You people have gone and forced my hand,_

_For ignoring me no matter what I do!"_

_"As of now, I've decided,"_

He let out a wicked chuckle.

_"And it's got me a bit excited,_

_To say I'm ignoring you, you, and all of you!"_

As Jack echoed 'you,' he jabbed is left pointing finger at the noses of each the three bullies, nipping at their noses, but going right through the last one to begin a spin on his toes. From there, the wind guided him upwards, blasting the bullies to a nearby snow mound, and blowing Jack over the rooftops.

_"Because I can do anything I want to."_

_"And no one can tell me what to say!"_

_"No one can whine or complain about what I do!"_

_"I wouldn't want it any other way!"_

He was flying aimlessly over the forest, spotting the caravan of ice miners. And yet he continued serenading, letting himself get caught up in the moment.

_"No one can tell me what can or can't be done,_

_Like flying faster than any sleigh!"_

He zoomed past them, leaving behind heavy gusts in his wake, before extending his staff out, and spinning wildly as the G caught the tip of a pine tree. When his momentum stopped, he let out an exuberant laugh.

_"There'll never be a dull moment, there'll only be fun!"_

_"Who needs 'em anyway?!"_

The wind picked up again, taking him back to the village he had been before. He didn't land anywhere just yet, however. He merely drifted easily alongside the uppermost windows.

_"Bein' alone is as good as it sounds."_

_"There's more fun to be had when no one's around!"_

_"Like getting into a snowball fight, and never getting hit!"_

He conjured up some snowballs with his staff, and swatted them towards some kids who were out throwing snowballs at each other, each hitting their intended target.

_"Or freezing their tongues to their drinks!"_

With a wave of his staff, he froze a man's drink as he flew past his home. The man was extremely startled to see his tongue had gotten stuck to the glass.

_"Makin' 'em slip on the ice rink!"_

He passed by the bullies again, putting another ice patch underneath them, making them slip onto the ground again. He would swear that he had simply been passing them by, and not looking for them if anyone asked.

_"Being unseen has its perks, I'll admit!"_

Flying over an empty avenue, Frost touched down upon it, and strode happily along it.

_"But the best part of this situation,_

_Is the lack of rules or obligations!"_

_"There's no responsibilities when I'm all alone!"_

_"No permissions to depend on!"_

_"I can stay up 'til past the break of dawn!"_

_"I can go anywhere when I'm on my own!"_

A strong torrent of wind made Jack shoot straight up into the sky, high above the tallest building in the village.

_"Because I can fly oh-so very high,_

_With a million destinations on the way!"_

Jack then dove straight back down to the village, before fluttering around it in an arc.

_"And I'll wave at those suckers as I pass 'em by,_

_Without letting their cold shoulders ruin my day!"_

He landed on the street he had been to, this time standing more towards the entrance to the village.

_"No one can tell me what I can or can't be!"_

_"I'm a rebel without cause with no rules to obey!"_

_"And even though I'm on my own, I'm boundless and free!"_

_"I don't need them anyway!"_

Jack let out a a triumphant laugh, feeling it come out of his chest.

_"Who even needs 'em anyway?!"_

_"I don't need them... a-ny-wa-!"_

Before he could even finish that line, something hard hit him from behind at his thighs, causing him to tumble end over end with a sharp yelp.

Landing face-down on the ground, with his shawl covering his view, he removed it to see the sight of Kristoff and Sven pulling their haul away, with the calf looking back at the winter sprite with a look that all but screamed 'Serves you right.'

And of course, Jack felt it when Kristoff phased right through him.

Rubbing the back of his head tenderly with a groan, Frost sat on his rear for a good moment, a heavy, miserable frown on his face, before making to stand up again, and walking away. All of the previous exultation from before seemed to have been sapped away when the young ice miner went through him.

Letting out a heavy sigh, the young man ceased his walk, standing still for another brief interval. Then his eyes dipped in sadness.

"I don't need them..." he breathed, before looking back over his shoulder towards the forest where the duo had gone. "...But I... I'd like to _have_ them."

The wind once again picked up, gently taking him to another rooftop. One with a clear view of the full moon, where he settled down.

_"...What I would give... for them to see,_

_This lonely wanderer that is me."_

_"For them to actually let me in on my own fun..."_

_"What's the point of having these powers,_

_If I have to spend endless hours,_

_Failing to show them off to everyone?"_

Sighing, he put a hand to his forehead.

_"But I don't know what to do..."_

_"I've tried everything, too..."_

He then threw a hand up.

_"I even went ahead and sang this tune..."_

The boy then looked up, once again, at the very source of many of his frustrations hanging up in the sky.

_"Yet the only clue I've got,  
_

_To fix this problem I come across a lot,_

_Is that the answer lies on the other side of the Moon!"_

With that, Jack stood up, regaining some, but not all, of the fervor he had before.

_"But he's always been silent! __Not a whisper or a mutter!__"_

_"No matter what I do or what I say!"_

_"Not a single thing to tell me! Not a murmur or a stutter!"_

_"Not a word on why he made me turn out this way!"_

_"No one to tell me what I need or have to do!_

_"Fine, then! If that's the way you wanna play!"_

_"I've done alright by myself so far! What's another year without you?!"_

_"I don't need you anyway!"_

_"I don't even want you anyway!"_

Again, despite his cries, no answer comes to him. Jack's shoulders start shaking in frustration, before stopping suddenly, and coming to a realization.

He was already used to being ignored... and that startled him.

Letting it all go, Jack Frost slumped back down on the rooftop, changing his anger back into sadness, as he had already done many times before.

_"...Who needs you... any... way?..."_

* * *

***(Song End)***

* * *

The boy sat there by himself for a good while afterwards.

Jack had only just left for the township by the shore, far down below the mountain, when he came to another realization.

No one had bothered to call him out, or tell him to cease his rambunctious singing in the middle of the night.

They hadn't heard him.

They hadn't _seen_ him.

_...Typical._

* * *

**-CHAPTER ONE END**

* * *

**AN: Sooo... yeah. When I said original songs, I meant ORIGINAL songs. As in written by me.**

**Again, I have my own idea of how the song sounds in my head, and tried my best to describe it above.**

**If anyone feels like making their own rendition online, or make a video of it, you guys are MORE THAN WELCOME to it. It'd be worth it just to hear how it would sound.**

**Just to be clear, not every chapter in this story will have an original song, and some songs I make might not make the cut. Again, depending on how Frozen II turns out, I might save a certain special song for later.**

**I really wanted to include segments from the movie, and write them down. But the rules of copyright forbid me from doing so. The best I can do is just tell you when the songs begin, what Jack's doing while they're being sung (if he's not actively singing, of course) and when they end.**

**Anyway, that's all for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and look forward to what's in store.**

**Again, if any of you guys have prompts to give me for when Jack is there when Elsa and Anna are growing up, feel free to send them my way. Could certainly use them.**

**And remember...**

**READ & REVIEW!**

* * *

**Next Chapter: Jack Frost stumbles upon the Princesses of Arendelle... at the worst possible time. **


	3. Chapter 2: The Princesses of Arendelle

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

_"Singing"_

_"Sing" - "Siiing"_

* * *

***~*~*~ _Chapter Two:_ The Princesses of Arendelle ~*~*~***

* * *

Jack meandered down the streets of Arendelle proper, his staff trailing morosely behind him as he trekked. Though he had calmed down from his tirade earlier - that's what he called it, not a random musical number - a miserable expression still remained on his face.

This was nothing new to him, though. He would play, get his hopes up, fail, get angry, calm down, and go about his business. Then the cycle would start again surely enough.

It was nighttime now, so he didn't need to go about using his tricks to get their attention. Everyone was inside, either eating dinner, or getting ready for bed. The township didn't even need frost or snow, whereas the other little village from before had the excuse of being up in the mountain. Down on the ground, though, it wasn't in the season. It wasn't time.

Regardless, Jack didn't really feel like spreading some frost around, anyway. After his upteenth failure - adding one more to a list of failures accumulated over a hundred years - he no longer felt like trying tonight.

Maybe tomorrow... but not tonight.

It was when he kicked his staff up, twirling it in his hand before landing it over his right shoulder that he heard it. The one shimmer that always never failed to arrive on time. Looking up, Jack smiled as trails, clouds, and other shapes of golden dust began making its way across the kingdom.

The Sandman's Dreamsand had come.

"Good to see I'm not the only one who doesn't change," he sighed. He was referring to his constant attempts to be visible blowing up in his face, but in this instance, it was okay. The Sandman's feats were a wonder that never needed to change.

Hovering into the air, he watched as the sand streaked and snaked across the town, finding its way through windows, doors, and other openings the particles could find. Throughout his flight, the boy watched with joy as he saw children and their parents dreaming. The Dreamsand made images of these very dreams, playing out right in top of them as they slept. He saw horses, people, boats, and other myriad wonders that only the minds of children could create.

Frost landed on the town's clock tower, beholding the sight of a sea of Dreamsand trailing out across the streets and rooftops of Arendelle. Many objects made of Dreamsand were starting to manifest, also. Fish, birds, and other animals.

Looking up, he saw that the aurora was out. Excitedly, he kicked off the tower, the gales propelled him high up into the sky at incredible speed. Shooting right through the aurora, he only stopped until he was right above it. Looking down below, he saw what was a view few could ever hope to witness. The aurora made the Dreamsand below sparkle and glisten with colors so bright, it was hypnotizing.

Jack let out a wild laugh at the sight, grinning from ear to ear.

He was about to return to the land, when something... _curious_ caught his eye.

Out of the whole mass of Dreamsand covering the town, one stray strand was leaving it. It was headed towards a small islet in the fjord.

"And where're you off to?" he wondered.

* * *

The winter sprite landed in the courtyard after having fallen straight down to from his previous height. He had gained speed on his descent, but had managed to slow himself down enough to meet the ground with his feet.

Letting out a whistle, he looked around the grand courtyard he found himself in. It was very spacious, with the main gates behind him, and the imposing figure of the castle looming before him. To his left was a chapel, in front of him were the castle doors. Two fountains were to the sides of the doors, spewing out fresh water grandly.

"Definitely a lot bigger up close," he mused as he approached the structure.

The building itself seemed very... odd to him. It was certainly the grandest thing around, to be sure. No other building in the kingdom could match it, the closest being the clock tower in town. Other than that, though, the design of the castle was rather... simple. It had its bits that exuded power, sure. The three spires on top - two on the sides, and the tallest, grandest one in the middle - were imposing enough. But still, the outward design of the castle was... normal. Not grand, elegant, and complex. Odd, simple, and normal.

Take the castle in Corona to the south, for example. That castle was tall, grand, and practically screamed royalty. Here... Again, the castle was the grandest thing around, but it was still far more simpler in design. Frost then looked towards the chapel again. Perhaps that had been intentional? Make it not as big so as to have more space?

Shrugging it off, he then recalled the reason he had come here. "Now, where'd that trail go?"

Looking up, he spotted the fairly visible sight of the Dreamsand circling around the corner of the castle, before stopping right before one of the windows; a triangular one. Jack followed after it, hovering gently toward its windowsill, careful not to touch the particles.

He knew what it would do if it hit him, after all, and the fall could easily wake him up afterwards.

As he got closer, he heard it. A voice belonging to that of a woman. And she was singing.

* * *

***(All is Found - Evan Rachel Wood - Disney's Frozen II Original Soundtrack)***

* * *

_"Where the north wind meets the sea,"_

_"There's a river full of memory..."_

The boy had reached the window just as the Dreamsand had retracted its tendril. From the outside, he spotted its target.

It was a bedroom. A child's bedroom. Though this particular one belonged not to one child, but two.

Said children were girls, and they were in the arms of what Jack assumed to be their mother: a brunette with her hair woven in a French braided crown twist, she wore a blue tiara over her head with leaf motifs and blue jewels encrusted in them, making her out as someone belonging to royalty. The Queen, perhaps?. She wore a blue dress that was lighter in color around her arms and shoulders - with a jewel tying her collar around her neck - and more purplish blue below. Behind her was a black cape-vest held in place by a black band, which the frost sprite assumed trailed behind her whenever she walked. Her melody echoed out even from where he had touched down by the ledge near the window, watching her as she watched over daughters with the same color of blue eyes they all shared.

_"Sleep, my darling, safe and sound."_

_"For in this river all is found."_

The song was warm and low, even to Jack's ears. There was love in that voice, he knew. The love only a mother could feel for her children. He had seen it many a time in his travels.

It didn't escape him as he frosted the roof beneath him - his frost lining itself around his knees and toes on the tiles so that he wouldn't slip off - that his own eyelids were starting to feel heavy. Still, he was doing far better than the little girls in the Queen's arms. One of them, at least.

The girl in her right arm was small, and looked to be the youngest. She wore a green nightgown, which was short-sleeved. The little princess had strawberry blonde hair, with two little pigtails behind her head, and freckles on her cheeks and around her nose, which her mother was currently gently, hypnotically, caressing with her right pinky. She listened with rapt attention... or at least tried to, seeing as she was trying to fight off sleep. And losing, much to her slipping annoyance, and his humor.

And in her other arm was another little girl, though probably a bit older than the younger one. She wore a blue nightgown with long sleeves. Her skin was much more clearer than the other princess', which was much more flushed. She also had a blue headband over her hair, which she had tied to a braided tail behind her neck.

What was odd about this girl, though, was that, despite her eyes and light skin... her hair was platinum blonde. Most families he ran into often had children that looked like their parents, but this one was nowhere near their hair color. Jack's first instinct was to surmise that this girl wasn't theirs, having probably been taken in by the royals. And yet, he couldn't deny that the girl had something... that stood out. And it wasn't just the hair.

Jack tried to blink the sleep off as their mother stood up, carrying the their youngest toddler, who had already fallen asleep, to bed. The tyke must have been fiery, but Jack Frost had been around the bend long enough to know that no toddler could beat a lullaby.

Each princess had their own bed, Frost noticed. One on each side of the room. The younger one's was beside the fireplace, while the older one's was on the wall. The Queen put her youngest daughter to bed, tucking her in whilst also closing her open, snoring mouth.

Jack was struggling now, unable to stop himself from crossing his arms over the windowsill to rest on the side of his head, the ancient youth's eyes half-lidded as the other princess crawled over to the foot of her bed, a knee arching over a purple shawl with designs he could not make out from where he was positioned, and that was without mentioning how he was falling asleep.

The last hing he remembered as his eyes slowly closed was the queen mother cradling her oldest daughter as she played with her brooch, rocking her around playfully but carefully. Lovingly.

_"Dive down deep into her sound."_

_"But not too far or you'll be drowned."_

_'...Drowned?...' _was the last thought he had before dozing off.

* * *

***(Song End)***

* * *

_Silent Night..._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Holy Night..._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Sleep in Heavenly Peace..._

* * *

Jack's eyes opened once before closing again, squinting as his head rose from its resting place on his arms. He stretched his arms over his head, yawning as the fell back to the side. Looking over his shoulder, gripping his staff from where he ad placed the shaft against his knees, the frosted youth glanced up to see that it was still nighttime.

"Mmm... Guess I must've dozed off," he groaned, turning back to peer into the princesses' room.

The Queen was already gone, both of her daughters asleep, as the Dreamsand had already made its move, having gone down through the chimney in the room. It had already slithered its way towards the blonde girl's side of the room, hovering right over her bed. It must have sprinkled some of its sand on her while Jack was napping, as, just like all the other times he had seen this feat performed, an illusory image of her dream was playing out above her.

Pressing himself against the window, the boy could see what appeared to be two tiny figures of sand rounding up a bunch of sand together, with two other mounds already on top of one another.

They were building a snow/sandman. She was thinking of playing with her little sister in the snow.

"...Oh, _alriiight._ I'll give you guys an early cold spell tomorrow," he relented, smiling as he watched the little girl's dream play out.

His attention then shifted to the other side of the room, where he saw the tendril approaching the other sister. When it did... a strange scene began to play out before his eyes. The tendril had reached out for her, but she shifted away, making it miss her. Rearing back, it was almost like some creature had been thrown for a loop by what just occurred, before lunging forward again. However, the girl returned to her original position, letting out a small whine through her lips.

"Haha, aw, c'mon, buddy! You almost had her that time!" Jack jeered as he watched. "C'mon, third time's the charm!... _Oooh,_ so close!"

This went on for another good minute or two, the girl shifting her posture on the bed, while the Dreamsand kept missing her. Finally, it ended when it seemed like she had finally stopped, the tendril shifting left and right, almost as if exasperated, before making a final snap towards her to get her to fall asleep. It was all for naught, however, when the redhead sat up, the sand dissipating on her pillow.

It seemed the little tyke wasn't asleep anymore.

Squinting her eyes, the little princess glanced over at the other side of the room, where her sister was sleeping. Smiling, she then slid under the covers. Jack watched curiously as her shape moved underneath the bed sheets, before sliding down the side of her bed, the girl looking up to make sure her sister hadn't seen her.

"And what're you up to at this hour?" he wondered as he watched her crawl over the large carpet dividing the room, and carefully tiptoeing right up to the side of the bed.

* * *

_So, in case it hasn't already been made perfectly clear to you guys, those two little girls are Anna and Elsa, the princesses and heirs apparent to the kingdom of Arendelle._

_With Anna, well... what you see is what you get. A redheaded ball of endless energy. She was the ultimate optimist. Clumsy and awkward, but she always managed to get right back up. Still, she could always be a bit... **gullible.** It was cute sometimes as a kid, but when she grew up... Ah, we'll get to that later._

_Speaking of cute, just look at her as a kid. Seriously. She's so darn cute, it's murderous. She was also pretty mischievous as a kid. But heavens above, she was just so adorable, it was practically a crime to be mad at her._

_And hyperactive, too. Especially when she had herself some chocolate. And, **hoo-boy,** did she love herself some chocolate._

_Now Elsa... She was similar in some way, but opposite in others. Whereas Anna was an extrovert, Elsa was an introvert. As a kid, this made her cute in her own way. Like, if Anna got hugs by holding out her arms for someone, Elsa got hugs because of this aura of loneliness she exuded that made others want to hold their arms out for her to make sure she wasn't lonely anymore._

_She was so shy, but she was also very perceptive. She liked to study, and this habit developed a wisdom I had only ever seen a few times for as long as I've been around. Math was her favorite, geometry especially. Again, I never had the patience for it, but Elsa did. And with it, she created amazing wonders._

_Powers and obvious personality traits aside, when it came to similarities, they were the same in that they could bring out the best in one another. When these two were together, they were two peas in a pod. Their mischief? Unstoppable. Whether it was snow piles in the kitchen or the bedrooms, or ice sculptures along the hallways, their presence was felt wherever one went in the castle._

_They were best friends. Inseparable._

_But that was **before** the isolation. Before **this** very night._

* * *

"Elsa?" Anna's head then popped up over the edge of her sister's bed, eyes on the sleeping figure of her older sister. "_Psst!_"

The little princess tried to heave herself onto the bed, struggling to lift her left leg onto the covers to hoist herself up. After a few tries, she found purchase, and immediately pounced on top of her sister.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake _up!_" she prodded, emphasizing ever word with a bounce over her sister, who had surely woken up already, Anna was sure.

If not, she'd keep bouncing until she did.

"_Annaaa..._" her sister moaned, albeit with a knowing smile at her sister's playful antics. "Go back to _sleeeeeep..._"

Sighing dramatically, the princess lay on top of her sister, squishing her beneath her weight playfully, placing her right forehand on her forehead. "I just _can't!_ The sky's awake," she then switched her to her left forehand, "so _I'm_ awake," before finally slumping, "so we _have_ to play!"

"Go play by yourself!" Elsa retorted as she shoved Anna off her bed.

The younger girl landed on her rear, but looked otherwise unhurt. The redhead bit her lip in thought, wiggling her feet before jumping up as an open-mouthed smile graced her face. The girl then practically leapt onto her sister's bed, and got back on top of her sleeping sibling.

The little tyke pulled Elsa's left eyelid open, knowing _exactly_ what would get her out of bed.

"Do you wanna build a _snowmaaan?..._"

The little blonde girl responded by opening her eyes at her sister, smiling at her with crafty understanding.

* * *

"'...Build a... snowman?'" Jack, who had placed his ear against the window, whispered to himself in bewilderment, wondering to himself if he had heard her right.

Whatever the case, it was enough to make the older sister giggle animatedly, and get her up from bed. Both girls then jumped off the covers, bolting hurriedly but carefully towards the door.

"Uh, ladies?!" Jack called from outside, watching them leave their bedroom. "Hey, we're still outta season! No snow 'til tomorrow! You know, when I make it for you?!"

Having captured his curiosity due to their mischievous daring, Jack jumped away from the windowsill - making extra sure to avoid the Dreamsand - and glided around the castle to find them. Peering though the windows, he kept an eye out for the two little night owls. After circling around twice, he spotted them through a window, catching them run down the stairs. The youngest was leading the way as the oldest followed, pressing her finger to her lips to keep them from being too loud, yet struggling to hold in some laughter herself. They had gotten out of his sight after that, however.

Staying around the section he found them in, the boy kept an eye out as he searched for them. He needn't have looked further after that, for he came across a window on the roofs. Inside was a grand hall, wide and empty. That is, until the two truants entered, laughing and giggling, even as the oldest closed the door behind them.

Crossing his legs as he landed near a window on the roof, Jack could only lean his staff on his shoulder, wondering what the two siblings were up to as the redheaded youngest dragged her sister to the middle of the room. "What're you gonna do, build an imaginary snowman?"

* * *

Both sisters spun each other around as they made it to the grand hall's center, before Anna let go of her sister, looking at her with excitement.

"Do the magic, do the magic!" she giggled.

Won over by her sister's antics, Elsa then rubbed her fingers against the palm of her hand. Pursing her lips together, she let out an exhale through her nostrils as she concentrated. Feeling the power within coursing through her arms, she weaved her hands in front of her, moving them in circles to conjure up the magic into one singular point.

As she did, blue motes of light that looked an awful lot like snowflakes fluttered out of her hands. Elsa guided the magic to coalesce together, making a bright ball of energy that condensed into a snowball. And all the while, her little sister watched in rapt wonder. Even after having seen it so many times, the little princess never ceased to be amazed by her big sister's talent.

Elsa looked towards Anna, the magic snowball floating between her hands. "Ready?"

"Uh-huh!" Anna nodded, an open-mouthed smile on her face.

* * *

Jack had been watching the whole exchange with a curious smile on his face, but frowned when a light had appeared in the older sister's hands. Peering closely through the glass, he watched as she showed the younger redhead the glowing object, which made the other girl light up in delight.

Then, to his surprise, she tossed the glowing thing up, which continued to amazingly fly up over the ceiling. It did not even touch it before it exploded into particles of glowing blue lights.

Only it wasn't blue lights, as Frost realized from watching them descend ever so slowly, gracefully to the floor.

It was snow.

The older sister had made it _snow._

"...What?... Wait... Wait. Wait, wait, wait, what? Wait, _what?!_"

He heard the little redhead shout out "_This is AM-A-ZING!_" from where he sat, but he barely even registered it, eyes too transfixed on the little girl - the one that had _made it snow_ \- watching her younger sister hold her hands out to the falling flakes.

"She... Sh-she made it _snow,_" he muttered, pointing the index finger of his free left hand shakily towards her. "That little girl, she...?! Sh-she made it _snow?!_"

* * *

Elsa bent forward to met her eyes with Anna's, hands on her knees. "Watch this!"

The magical girl then stood up again before raising her right foot, and stomping it on the ground. Upon making contact, ice shaped like a snowflake surrounded her foot, before spreading out. It went past both the sisters, frosting over the entire floor.

Anna noticed this almost immediately, giggling almost deliriously when she started sliding away from her sister ever so slowly, though not of her own will, but of the slipperiness of the ice beneath her feet.

* * *

"The-the-she... Sh-she did the... Duh, _huh?!_" Jack guffawed as he watched the ice spread across the floor, expanding from the epicenter, which was the girl who had - again - _made it snow._

"She frosted the floor... Sh-she frosted up the _floor!_ With _ice!_" he muttered in disbelief, hand running through his silver locks. "With her feet!... Her _feet!_"

_He_ couldn't do that! By planting his crook on the floor, maybe, but by himself? _Nope!_

For another good minute, his hands shook and his mouth stuttered. His lips struggled to find the words as he saw the room fill up with snow.

When the winter sprite finally did manage to find his voice, he had already looked out toward the full moon. In light of his new discovery, Frost did not even think twice about his earlier rant when addressing it.

"D-do you _see_ this?! A-are you seeing this, right now?! That little girl made it _snow!_" Jack cried out, gesturing towards the scene with his free hand. "I'm not goin' crazy here, right?!"

The moon did not respond to him, as was the usual occurrence. But Jack wasn't really looking for an answer from him, too busy focused on the merrymaking going on below him.

"Sh-she-she made it start snowing! With her hands! A-and her feet! Her _feet!_ She made ice cover the floor! And it kept going until it covered the whole room!" he spouted, sounding both more excited and delirious as he went. "A-and it's still snowing in there, and they're playing in it, and it's _amazing!_ Because of _her!_ Because she's...! She's..."

Placing his hand on the glass again, Jack Frost watched the Princesses of Arendelle as they made giant snowballs from the snow the braided blonde girl had made.

"...She's just like _me,_" he whispered in awe.

* * *

_What can I say about the first time that I saw Elsa's powers? I was **speechless.**_

_Never for as long as I was Jack Frost, at least at that point, did I ever think I would find anyone else like her with the powers of ice and snow..._

_Well, that's not **entirely** true. I did meet **someone** before that... But she was kinda mad at me, and I sorta didn't wanna run into her again if I could help it... More on that later._

_The thing is, I'd never seen a human - a little girl, at that - wield that sort of power before. And on a level that was greater than my own._

_And that was just when she was a kid! The things she could do when she got older... But again, more on that later._

_Every day since I've been Jack Frost, I've always tried to use my powers to spread fun and positivity to whomever I could. Yet the way this girl was doing it, how she was making her sister happy. __It made me feel... **something.** Excited, curious. But overall, I just **knew...**_

* * *

"...I... I've _got_ to get _in on this!_" Jack cried out, hopping from his crouched position in excitement.

The boy then pushed against the glass, but frowned when he saw it did not open.

Seeing this, he flew away from the rooftop, looking around the castle. Because one way or another, he was _going_ to take part in the fun these two were having.

Zipping around the castle, he ended up back to the window of their bedroom. He was about to push against it, but stopped himself, snapping his fingers in realization as he remembered he couldn't get in through there, as it had no latch.

He then continued on through every window in the upper floors, but found no such opening.

Jack, groaning in exasperation, turned back to the main hall, curious as to what the two sisters were doing now.

* * *

Elsa was putting in the finishing touches to her latest creature. Meanwhile, Anna was sitting on a chair before her, watching her sister at work, all the while making funny faces at her. She definitely couldn't contain her excitement.

When she was done, she turned her creation towards Anna. It was a snowman made of three large snowballs. It had three rocks meant to represent buttons; one in the middle, and two on the bottom. The Head snowball was someone oval-shaped, with extra snow on one side to make a silly stretched face, with a buck tooth beneath where the mouth was. Two rocks made up its 'eyes' while a carrot made up the nose. Three twigs were on top of its head to make it look like it had hair.

It was a silly, funny, ugly thing. The kind only a child could a appreciate and love.

The magical princess ducked behind it, before bring out two longer twigs that made up its arms, waving it around like they were moving.

"_Hi, I'm Olaf! And I like warm hugs!_" Elsa mimed, doing her best impression of what Olaf would sound like if he were real.

Anna clapped her hands in delight, before running towards Olaf. "_I love you, Olaf!_" she cheered, giving the snowman a wide hug, right before smiling gratefully at her sister.

* * *

"_Hey, I like warm hugs, too!... _I think," Jack whined, placing his face against the window so closely, his nose flattened against the glass. "Gimme a minute! I'll find a way in, and...!"

Frost blinked as his eyes fell on the snowman. In his humble opinion, it was wonderful. Silly, ugly, the best kind of snowman. The length of the carrot gave it goofy vibe.

And that's when it hit him.

"_The kitchen!_"

Zipping away from the window again, he decided to try looking through the lower floors for an opening. Specifically the kitchen. The princesses had to have gotten it from somewhere while he was searching for an entrance the first time. They would have had to have gone through the kitchen for that carrot. And if he was lucky, then all Jack had to do was find that entrance, which would then lead him to where the two girls were playing.

He came across every potential entrance he could find in the castle's lower half. And every one he found, he tried to pull the door open, push the window panes apart, slam against it, and more. But each attempt at entry was met with failure.

Eventually, much to his relief, he found a window to the kitchen. However, trying to slide the window pane up, he was once again met with failure. Even the nearest door, it did not budge an inch for him.

Pulling at his hairs in frustration, the frost sprite flew back over to where the girls were playing. The redhead was dancing with the snowman, gliding together thanks to the slippery frost on the floor. The blonde ice-making one slid towards them thanks to gusts of icy energy coming out of her hands. This propelled her to the snowman, which then caught her sister, making them all glide around their impromptu ice rink.

Grinding his teeth with a twitching eyelid, Jack then zipped faster than before, going back through every door, window, and nook he could find, trying to find a way to add his own brand of ice and to this impromptu play date. Heavy gusts surrounded Arendelle Castle as Jack frantically tried to find a way to get in. Anywhere at all.

And then he found it.

"_YES!_"

* * *

The chamber was dark, damp, and somewhat wet.

Wooden doors to his right and left were locked shut, with bars on them. The walls themselves were made of dark stone, and so were the arches around the cell doors. The entire corridor actually looked very depressing and scary.

A dungeon... That's where the door he had found on that tower towards the castle walls facing the fjord led to.

"...Something tells me I took a wrong turn somewhere," Jack realized.

* * *

Frost found himself sitting back in the same spot he had initially started in, his expression that of a deep, deadpanned frown. He was sitting with his legs crossed, crook over his left shoulder, and right hand thrumming away on his chin as he watched the two girls continue their amusement, only somewhat seething that he couldn't be a part of it.

The two were now climbing on top of a snow hill molded like a slide. The older sister guided the youngest to sit in front of her, before sitting behind her afterwards.

"...How'd you do it?" the boy asked to himself. It was actually meant for the magical girl, but she couldn't see or hear him. "The magic. Did you learn to do it, or did you always have it? Do you even _know_ how you got it"

Just who _was_ this little girl? He pondered it as he watched the duo slide down their hill. The younger redhead had kept going, and her momentum led her into a small mound of snow that served as a ramp, which made her fly into another mound of snow in front of it. The effect was similar to his ride with Kristoff and Sven earlier.

She then popped out of the mound, sending out a lot of snow as she emerged.

"Hang on!" he heard her sister say as she used her magic to make another snow mound, which the little one promptly landed in.

The tyke then jumped up again. "Catch me!" She then landed on another one her sister made.

"Gotcha!" she cheered as conjured up another snow mound for her sister to land on.

Jack watched as the she had jumped on those snow stands, and noticed how they were rounding up towards that one snow mound with the slide.

"Ah, tryin' to land down on the slide, huh? Clever," he observed with a grin.

However, the wintry fellow's smile fell when he noticed that the younger girl started going faster. Likely out of adrenaline.

"Uh, little girl? Maybe you wanna slow down there a bit?" he called out cautiously.

* * *

Elsa was just about thinking the same thing.

"Wait!" she cried, struggling to keep up with her sister's leaps.

Anna, however, wasn't paying attention, too caught up in the fun to stop. "Again!"

"_Slow down!_" she called out as she fired of another wave of wintry magic with both of her hands.

However this time, she tried to fire it with too much force, causing her to overextend her arms bit forward. This made her lose her footing, slipping against the ice, and making herself fall on the floor.

* * *

Frost gasped as he watched the magical girl fall on her back. Just as her little sister jumped off her last perch.

"Hey, hey, no, _stop, _you're gonna fall!"

* * *

Elsa gasped in horror as Anna cheered out out, unaware that there was nothing for her to land on.

"_Anna!_" she shouted, holding out her hand towards her sister.

She fired off a blast from her hand, hoping to make a mound in time for her sister to land on. But it went nowhere near the floor. Instead, it shot straight for her little sister. It collided with her head, catching her in mid-air. All Elsa heard was an "_Ooof_" before she saw he sister descend from the air, and land on the first mount she had made, rolling down the slide.

She didn't get up.

Gasping, the older princess got up, running towards the fallen form of her younger sibling. Kneeling beside her, she held her sister's head in her arms.

"A-Anna?" she whispered. Her sister did not answer her, though. She was unconscious.

Then something happened, much to her horror. Part of Anna's red locks began changing to the color of white, making a white streak stand out against the tufts of reds.

Her eyes widened in shock, and fear began to grip her heart. Letting out short gasps of breath, she looked up desperately before crying out for her parents. "_Mama! Papa!_"

Young Elsa then held her sister closer to her, cradling her in her arms, almost carefully. She was worried about what would happen if she let go.

"You're okay, Anna... I got you..."

* * *

Jack Frost remained silent. But his face had indeed fallen over what had occurred.

And he saw what the princess didn't. As she continued to be filled with despair, ice began to spread from around her. Only, unlike the clear, even coating she had put before, this was was harsher, and less clear. Ice spikes even jutted out from some of the pillars in the room, and the ice mounds began to dissolve. It managed to spread out to the ceiling, and even reached the window he was looking into.

But through all of this, his eyes remained on Olaf, the ugly little thing left forgotten in the midst of the accident. And when the ice reached him, he broke apart.

* * *

_I think... I think when Olaf had broken apart then, that was what signified it. The snowman. The one thing that had connected those two sisters._

_It had been set apart... And that would be where Anna and Elsa would find themselves after this night._

**_...Apart._**

* * *

**-CHAPTER TWO END**

* * *

**AN: Originally, I had this chapter at a bit longer. I was originally gonna have it end when they meet up with the trolls, but this chapter took me surprisingly long to finish. So that's what next chapter will be for.**

**I like to think I captured Jack's reaction to Elsa's powers well. He's still pretty young (in his tenure as a winter spirit at least) so the idea that a little girl could have the same powers as him, and use it better than him, is still something that leaves him dumbfounded. I've always believed that Elsa was more powerful in scale with her powers than Jack, so him being a stuttering mess after seeing it was fun to write.**

**Of course, that's probably because we haven't seen him do feats like make a palace of ice... _yet._ So who knows?**

**I also left a reference to someone being similar to them. You guys could maybe guess who it is, but that won't come into play until later on.**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked this chapter, and thank you for your support. I'll try to write the next one soon.**

**And until then...**

**READ & REVIEW!**

* * *

**Next Chapter: Jack and the royals journey to the Valley of the Living Rock.**


	4. Chapter 3: The Valley of the Living Rock

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'  
_

"Dialogue"

* * *

***~*~*~ _Chapter Three:_ The Valley of the Living Rock ~*~*~***

* * *

Though the sounds of soft winds gently caressed against him and his ears, for whatever it was worth, Jack thought the world might as well have been silent.

The winter sprite had never, ever felt cold, save for once before. A cold that was unlike the one he felt when people walked through him. When he first awoke in that frozen lake years ago, he had felt deathly cold. Never again had he felt so numb.

Until today, that is. Until he saw a little girl with powers just like his. And those powers had hurt her innocent little sister.

A good minute had passed, and the older princess had continued sobbing, letting out one wracked sob that echoed out to the window Jack was hunched over. It was enough to snap him out of his stupor.

"H-_hey! Hold on, little girl!_" he tried calling out from behind the window. "_I-I'm gonna go get some help! Just wait right-_"

He was interrupted, however, by a loud _*THUMP*_ from the direction of the door to the large chamber. Looking over, he saw that the door had also been iced over in the girl's panic. Yet the resounding bang had knocked off some of the ice.

Another one followed the first. And then another. And another.

Finally, the door burst open. And on the other sides of the doors were the queen, and a man who must have been their father, the king.

He had well-combed, strawberry blonde hair, with sideburns on the sides of his head, and a mustache over his lips. He wore a black royal tunic, with a maroon lining going around his collar and the middle of his tunic, with intricate designs on them. The king also wore ornate epaulettes over his shoulders, and grey slacks over his legs.

He certainly looked like he had a regal bearing to him, but it was quickly becoming chiseled away with the distress of what he was before him, looking upon the sight of his daughters with nothing akin of shocked horror. A face matched by his wife.

* * *

_Long after that night... I would wonder if they were frightened over the state of their daughters... or over what their eldest had done. I really hope it was the former._

* * *

"Elsa, what have you done?!" her father had cried out, rushing towards him along with her mother. "This is getting out of hand!"

"It was an accident!" she cried out, before once again cradled the head of her sleeping sister. "I'm sorry, Anna..." she whimpered.

* * *

Frost shook his head, his heart breaking from the sight. "Wait, no! She didn't mean to hurt her! It was an accident! She wasn't...!"

For all of his cries, though, he knew they wouldn't hear him.

* * *

Lifting their daughter into their arms, both the queen and king inspected their daughter. On the surface, she looked fine, save for the change in her hair; the streak. But at the mere touch of her, they could feel a chilling cold. A cold unnatural for one alive.

"She's ice cold!" their mother cried in alarm, her eyes widening in fear for the safety of her daughter.

The king's did, too, for a brief moment, sharing her concern. Then another anxious second passed, and his eyes furrowed together in firmness, determination growing in his eyes.

His hands gripped her left arm, the one holding her youngest daughter's head aloft, which garnered her attention to him. Looking down thoughtfully, his eyes then met hers again.

"I know where we need to go."

* * *

The winter sprite watched the whole scene play out, worry growing as his left free hand covered his frown. Then the monarchs got up from their crouch, the king bringing up his eldest daughter to his arms, and stormed out of the chamber, his wife, still cradling the unconscious firebrand, hurriedly following after him all the while.

"Wait, where're you guys going?" he whispered in wonder, before thinking quickly, and ushering the wind to suck him up into the air once more.

Floating along the castle's walls, Jack peered into every glass window he could. Having had a good chance to memorize the castle earlier, he managed to find the royals quickly, finding them as they ascended the stairs to the top floor. They reached the the second floor, but they entered another hallway, obscuring them from his sight.

Flying towards where the larger windows near the center of the castle, he glimpsed inside each glass, hoping to find the royal family. He checked every room, but regardless of their contents, they were empty. Rounding around, he came across another bedroom, this one seeming to belong to the king and queen. He noticed that the door to it was still ajar, which was when the boy saw a blur pass by the doorway. The monarchs. Going around the corner of the castle, he came upon another window, and let out an exhale of victory when he saw the family enter.

Gliding to the windowpane, Jack pressed his hands against the glass, squinting his eyes to get a look at the chamber they were in.

Before he can even register what was happening, however, the glass gave way, and he fell inside with a startled cry.

The sound of the window opening had startled the queen, as far as Jack could hear from his spot on the floor. "What was that?!"

Pushing himself to all fours, the frosted boy let out a gasp as something cold went through his stomach. "Nothing, dear. It's just the wind."

Looking up over his shoulder, Jack Frost saw that the King had gone over to close the window, locking it. His right foot had gone through his torso as he did so, since, of course, His Majesty did not believe in him.

"_Hey!_" Jack snapped as he got up to his knees, feeling the cold sensation of the king's foot through his stomach fade as the monarch moved away from him.

It was then that the winter sprite realized where he was.

He was no longer outside the castle. He was _inside. _And where should the entrance in be... but the castle's library?

"...The only way in _would_ be in the most boring room in the whole castle," he sighed, lips pursing as he used his staff as leverage to get up to his feet. "Really gotta go over the way I think sometimes."

Standing up to his full height, Jack quickly took in his surroundings. The room was actually smaller than one would expect for a castle library. There was a couch over the carpet, where a table with a chess set was placed. Curious knickknacks lined the walls, like various violins, and even a painting of the king. Along the walls was a fireplace, as well as tall bookcases, which was what the king was going through at the moment. His wife and children were across the painting, near a table that had a model ship on top of it. Seeing this, he immediately rushed over to them.

Running to the queen's side, Jack peered up at the little girl in her arms. She was scrunching up on herself, now, shivering. It was then that the wintry boy spotted the streak on her hair. The one that hadn't been a part of her strawberry-blonde locks.

"That wasn't there before..."

Looking down, it was then he finally spotted the magical girl. She was currently watching as her father was going through the book shelves.

Here she was. A girl who could control the snow, just like he could. He was finally in front of her. Crouching down, he saw that she was still crying, keeping her eyes on her father expectantly whilst also looking up to see how her sister fared. Reaching out, Jack's hand went towards her nearest cheek, intending on wiping away her tears. To his dismay, his hand only phased through. He couldn't touch her. She didn't believe in him. Any words of comfort he wanted to give, they could not reach her.

If only they had met under better circumstances.

Letting out a sigh, the boy's face fell into one of disappointment. Not at the little girl, though. He was used to that. But right now, she needed help. Her sister, her parents. They needed help.

Even if they couldn't see him, Jack would still try.

Eyebrows furrowing in determination, the boy spoke to the little girl. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. Don't you worry."

With that, he jumped to his feet, and strode to the bookcase the king was going over.

"Alright, Your Majesty, what're we lookin' for?" he asked, scanning across the shelves for anything useful... and realizing he couldn't understand any of it. "...Okay, you're gonna have to help me out here, 'cause I can't read a lick of this."

"Where is it?..." the king whispered to himself, skimming through the books lined up before him. "I know I put it here for emergencies..."

"Put _what_ here?" Jack asked. He then looked back at the shivering princess. "Actually, what exactly's going on with your-"

"_Here!_"

Turning around, Jack saw the king pull out a book from the shelf, and opened it. The boy watched as he skimmed through the pages, seeming intent on searching for a specific one. When he found it, something fell to the ground. Crouching down quickly, the sprite discovered that it was a map of sorts, which had an image of the castle, and dotted lines leading east into the mountains.

He stood up just as the king crouched down to pick the map up. It was only for the briefest of moments, but Jack managed to spot the image on the page of the book the royal was on. It showed what seemed to be a viking figure of importance - perhaps a king - laying down on a table. Above him was a round, shadowy figure, its arms raised up. And from the head of the king came out hazy, wispy blue smoke of some sort.

The frost sprite's brows dipped in confusion. "What are you thinking?"

The King of Arendelle got up in response, and phased right through him as he hurried to his family, ushering them out of the study.

"_KAI! GERDA! SADDLE THE HORSES!_" he cried out in the hallway. It was loud enough for Jack to hear it even from the library. "_OPEN THE FRONT GATES!_"

It was also enough for him to get the idea to follow after them, gliding past the door, landing right behind the royal family.

"Hey, wh-where're you going?! What's the plan?!" the white-haired lad inquired hastily as he kept up with them. "What are you guys gonna do?!"

They were climbing down the round, grand staircase when he asked this, and he continued on down the hallway at the bottom. Another set of stairs brought them to the entrance hall, where servants were already scrambling to get the doors opened.

They were all startled and alarmed, words of worry echoing out amongst them. 'What happened?' they were asking. 'What's going on?' 'Is all well?' The king and queen did not answer them, too focused on heading outside to the castle courtyard. Jack knew, however, that the servants could see that something was wrong. It was written all over their faces, after all.

Striding past the archway, he saw two servants coming up to the royals from the stables on the side. It was man and woman, both in green servant's uniforms of their respective genders. The man was rather plump, with brown hair, but a bald spot on top. The woman was tall and lean, with grayish-brown hair, and a servant's bonnet. Each were leading white, regal steed towards them.

"Your horses, You Majesty. As requested," the man informed.

"Your Grace, is everything alright?" the woman inquired as the king took the reins of his horse from her, and the queen from the man.

"We will return soon," he informed, helping his eldest daughter mount his stallion before getting on himself. "Watch the castle while we're away!" he ordered. The queen took to her saddle as well, holding onto her youngest daughter with one arm tightly, who was growing colder by the second.

With a loud "_HYAH!_" the royal family rode off toward the castle's gates, and into the town ahead.

Jack watched the whole scene carefully, and his face scrunched up in determination as they sped off. Holding up his staff, he called the wind to him, and had it propel him forward to chase after the family. It did not take him long to catch up, making sure to fly right next to the king's horse.

The frozen boy turned his attention back to the magical princess, whose distress had not abated at all since her father took charge. In fact, tears were still welling up in her eyes.

His face fell in sympathy for her, but then furrowed back to regain his focus.

Jack only could hope that the king's plan to help his daughter would work. Whatever it was.

It just had to.

* * *

Kristoff and Sven continued trekking down the usual path the ice miners took to unload their cargo for the day. They had indeed fallen behind, but it was partly for their own choice. The duo had almost caught up to the caravan, but had overheard their angry shouts and cries of frustration over their sudden joyride. Needless to say, the reindeer had come up with the plan to stay back a bit further to stem off their punishment, if only for a little while.

Somehow, the young boy thought that, even without that plan, they would have been way behind the other miners regardless.

Crossing a clearing, however, they had both slowed down at the sudden beats of hooves pounding the ground, shaking the earth beneath them. Looking in the direction they were coming from, the child watched as two white steeds sped off in the direction to their left.

What really caught their attention, however, was the trail the pair of horses was leaving behind them.

"_...Ice?_" Kristoff gasped in wonder, looking in the direction they went to, before sharing a glance with Sven.

Both were in agreement immediately.

* * *

Jack had managed to keep up with the horses, though that was never going to be a problem. Still, he had no idea where he was going, or where they were headed, for that matter.

During that time, Frost had gone over to the redheaded princess, who was still frowning in her sleep. He hoped that it wasn't because whatever it was her sister had done was getting worse.

The winter sprite then hovered over to the other horse, where the king held his daughter with one arm. The wind had dried her tears, but the girl was still wracked with worry and anxiety over her sister.

"Don't you worry, princess!" Jack reassured loudly over the wind, hoping the girl could hear him. Or, if not, at least reassure himself. "Your baby sister's gonna be just fine! Just you wait! Your dad's gonna get her-"

He hadn't seen where they were headed, so he didn't see the pair of horses take a sharp turn on a corner. This led him to flying away from them, to his surprise. Frost tried to reorient himself to get after them, but crashed against the trunk of a tree before he could do so. Sliding down to the bottom, Jack pushed himself away from the oak, vision spinning as he stumbled around in a daze.

Shaking his head, the winter sprite made to raise his crook to fly off after them, but was hit from behind before he could. More specifically, behind his shins. He fell onto his back, groaning all the while. In the tumult, he had also felt that phasing feeling again when people go past him.

Lurching up, he spotted a familiar odd pair running past him. One Jack hadn't expected to see, if he were being honest.

"Sven?!" he coughed as he sat up. "_Kristoff?!_"

"_Faster, Sven!_" he hissed out to the reindeer, who merely answered with his own grunt. It was almost as if in response to Jack's reaction.

It was then that he felt a strange feeling in his hand as he got up to his rear. Yet, however strange it was, it was not entirely foreign to him.

Looking down, he saw that the grass, usually dark, healthy, and green this time of year, was actually blue, and coated with frost. Then Jack looked forward, and saw a trail of ice following after the direction the royal family had sped off to. He then looked over his shoulder, and saw that the trail extended far back than he realized.

That must have been how the boy and the reindeer had followed them. Somebody had left a trail. But...

"...I didn't do that..." he muttered. He was the only one who could around here.

But not anymore, he realized. Now there was somebody else. And she was likely terrified out of her mind right now.

With that, Jack quickly hopped to his feet, and made a starting run before the wind carried him back on the path. The winter sprite made sure to follow the ice trail, knowing it would lead him to where his charges had gone.

It only took a good half a minute to catch up to Kristoff and Sven. And by then, he had already started to feel the changes in the air. The summer air around Arendelle this year had felt fresh. Not too cold, and not too hot. Yet as they approached their destination - he still didn't know where it was, unfortunately - the air had gotten warmer. Up ahead, he could also see some smoke, too. It was steam, he realized a second later, feeling the droplets of water in the air from where he was.

But it was more than that. It was a certain prickle on the back of his neck. The kind he would get every so often as he traveled the world, or every year when he tried to break into the North Pole. The kind he felt not too long ago, when the princess had shown off her magic. And that was the word.

_Magic._ There was magic nearby.

Before long, the group had started entering a low area surrounded by large rocks and smaller ones. Kristoff had dismounted the young reindeer, and made to scale a smaller rock nearby. Sven was about to go through the open path, but the kid called out to him in a harsh whisper, not wishing to alert the royals to his presence.

"Sven, come here!" he hissed out. The reindeer had his tongue sticking out, likely due to running after the larger horses, but nodded as he trotted to where his best friend hid.

Jack Frost, on the other hand, had no such reservations, and proceeded to hover along the ice trail.

Following down, he came across a large valley surrounded by steam vents, making the place look foggy, at least above. When one approached the center, which was sloped downward, however, it was clearer. All around were rocks covered with moss and grass, which was the same as the floor. Barks of trees also surrounded the garden, lacking any of the greenery present on the floor.

Looking over his shoulder, Jack saw the orphaned duo hide behind another boulder from a higher vantage point, the boy having to hold onto the calf to keep him from running off. Meanwhile, in the middle of the valley, Frost saw that the monarchs had already dismounted their horses, and were looking around. What they were looking for, however, the frosty youth could only imagine.

"_Please, help!_" the king cried out, his voice echoing out throughout the valley. "My daughter..."

For a moment, there was silence. Jack himself was looking around, wondering if the king had misread the map in his haste. However, a breath later, he felt rumbling beneath his bare feet. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a horde of rocks rolling down towards him. With a yelp, the young man vaulted to the top of his staff, placing it firmly on the ground, and watched as every rock rolled past it, all the while hoping they wouldn't knock it over.

From his perch, he could see more rocks tumbling down the hills around the valley to surround the family of four, who bunched up together in alarm. And yet, the rocks, somehow, managed to stop right around them. Almost in a perfect circle, in fact. The frosted sprite could hear the other young boy gasp in shock behind him.

Then, something strange happened. Every rock surrounding them shot up from the ground, as if standing up. Jack then realized that the boulders had, indeed, stood up. They had changed form, and now before the royal family stood diminutive, knee-high creatures made of rock, each with their own moss-like clothing, capes, grass-like hair, and crystal necklaces.

"_It's the king!_" one of them announced, making everyone of them bow their heads before the king and his family.

"Rock... people?" Jack whispered, his mouth stretching to his side to make a curious smile.

"_Trolls!..._" he heard Kristoff whisper excitedly behind him, as if correcting him.

Jack looked over his shoulder to him, and blinked when he saw that the rock the duo was hiding behind had changed into one of these rock trolls. This one had red crystal necklaces around its torso, and yellowish-grass hair that reminded him of a hairstyle a woman would have.

Her gender was confirmed when she shushed the two boys next to her. "_Shush!_ I'm trying to listen!" she whispered, bringing them both under her arms.

Sven then decided to lick her, of all things, bringing her to her senses. The troll woman glanced at both of them, realizing that they weren't trolls like her. Regardless, she still smiled widely.

"_Cuties!_" she gushed, pinching both youths by their cheeks, before bring them both together in a hug. "I'm gonna keep you!"

Frost let out a chuckle at the scene, happy for Kristoff and Sven, somewhat. Exhaling through his nose, he then turned his attention back to the family, who were being approached by a troll different from the rest.

This particular troll looked way older, and had a dark blond mane, or what could be considered blonde made of what was actually dry grass. This also extended to his large ears, where some 'hair' came out of his eardrums, as well as eyebrows. This was pretty peculiar, Jack realized, because the other trolls had thinner, smaller eyebrows on them. He had dark green attire made out of moss as well, though unlike the other trolls, he wore a long, flowing green cape as opposed to the others' smaller ones. And the crystals he wore were actually shining the color of yellow, as opposed to the red and pink crystals for the trolls he assumed were female, and the blue and green ones for the males.

It seemed that this troll was the leader of this group, all the more evidenced by the fact that he was the one out of all of them to greet the king and his family directly, bowing to them in respect.

"Your Majesty," he greeted, raising his head again. His eyes then fell upon the eldest daughter, and reached out to her hand, holding it in his own as he examined her. In reality, he was sensing her own magical presence, quickly discerning what her powers were, and what she could do. "Born with the powers, or cursed?"

"Born," His Majesty answered almost too quickly, though he did look extremely surprised at how easily the old troll had discovered his daughter's talent. "A-and they're getting stronger."

"Hmm..."

The youthful ancient had finally dropped from his perch on his staff, kicking his leg up to have it flip into his hand. He held it tightly against his right shoulder with both hands, walking over to the edge of the crowd, though having a perfect line of sight to the monarchs due to his height. He saw the troll leader/king-whatever-he-was beckon the queen with his hands to bring her youngest daughter down to his level, and she did so, kneeling down in front of him. She leaned forward to give him a better view.

The old troll placed his hand on the little girl's forehead, closing his eyes to hone in on the damage. After a few moments' breaths, he opened his eyes again, nodding at them with what looked like relief, though his tone sounded both cautionary and reprimanding. "You are lucky she didn't hit the heart. The heart cannot be so easily changed." He then shrugged reassuringly, relaxing a bit, and taking away some of the urgency in the air. "_But..._ the head can be persuaded."

The King of Arendelle relaxed greatly from hearing this, though not completely. Not until his daughter was confirmed to be safe. "Do what you must."

Upon the king's urging, the Elder Troll went to work, placing his hand gently on the unconscious princess. "I recommend we remove all magic. Even _memories_ of magic. To be safe."

It was then that Frost was audience to a curious display. As soon as the old troll had removed his hand from the redhead's forehead, the blue wisps of magical energy followed his hand's gesture, just like in the picture from that book. Waving his hands around, the troll brought the energy to coalesce together, and form an image bo vivid and picturesque. It was of the two girls, playing inside the ballroom. The winter sprite had to wonder if that image had been from a prior occasion, or if it was actually from that night.

With a wave of the Troll King's hand, the scene had changed. Or rather, he realized a second later, its setting had changed. Whereas before it was a ballroom, now it was outside, in the snow. Both princesses were wearing winter attire, and instead of the blonde girl being responsible for their merriment, the credit was given to the snow.

Somebody or something else taking credit for your hard work, especially when it came to spreading fun? He knew what that felt like better than anyone.

Another image appeared, replacing the one of the the youngest sliding on a little sled. It was of them ice skating in the ballroom, but now they were outside in the snow. The last was of them sitting before that goofy-looking snowman they had made before, holding each other in their arms. But where the ballroom had been, they now sat out in the snow.

"But worry not," he whispered. "I'll leave the fun."

That was more than fine in Jack's book. But still...

"Change memories... They can do that?" he muttered to himself.

The old one grasped his hands together, bringing the wisps of memory magic into his hands. He then placed his left hand on the sleeping girl's forehead, he saw a blue light glow between his rock hard skin and her flesh, before dissipating. The troll let out an audible exhale of breath, as if exhausted.

The princess, meanwhile, smiled in her sleep, as if she were having a good dream.

"There," he sighed with finality. "She'll be alright."

He hadn't known when he had been doing it, but as soon as he heard the troll speak those words, the snowy youth let out a sigh of relief, ceasing to hold his breath in anticipation.

The danger had passed. The princess had been saved.

"...But she won't remember I have powers?" the older little princess, who had been holding onto the fabrics of her father's tunic throughout the whole display, asked, sounding almost saddened and apprehensive at the prospect.

The king placed a hand on her shoulder in his best attempt to reassure her, squeezing her shoulder. "It's for the best."

The Troll Elder then turned his attention to the little blonde girl, and beckoned her to attention.

"Listen to me, Elsa," he began, turning away from her. "Your power will only grow," he revealed.

Frost watched as the old troll waved his hands again, using his magic to conjure up an image made from the same lights of the north. The image depicted three parts, two of which were the same. A crowd of people.

In the middle, however, was a single figure. It was that of a woman, with what looked like a dress and a cape.

"You must learn to control it," he advised. "There is beauty in it."

The female figure, which Jack figured must have been the princess, waved her hands confidently in circles. And following them were snowflakes coming out of thin air. She then brought her hands together, conjuring the magic just as he saw her do earlier, and shoot it up in the air. Before long, it exploded in the shape of a larger snowflake. One the likes of which he had never made or seen before.

"...But there is great danger as well."

Suddenly, the snowflake shifted into a jagged, imperfect shape, changing its hue from blue to red. Jack's eyes narrowed as the girl let out a startled gasp. More so when the crowds had changed color as well. Before, they had been watching the central figure in awe and wonder. Now, however, they had begun to act differently. They were pointing at her, almost accusingly, shaking their hands in her direction. Screaming at her. The woman in the middle began to coil back, frightened. Startled.

"You must learn to control it. _Fear..._ will be your _enemy._"

And without warning, the crowds lunged at her, the woman unable to do anything but cry out as they consumed her, before the image itself disappeared in a bright flash.

Jack let out a gasp of horror when it was finished, but it had been drowned out by the little girl's shriek. She retreated back into the arms of her father, who had been just as horrified at what was shown.

He was the first to snap out of their stupor, however, his brows dipping in determination. "No!" he cried out, gripping his daughter close to him whilst turning back to his wife. "We'll protect her," he vowed, nodding to her assuredly, before turning back to the old troll. "She can learn to control it, I'm sure."

His eyes shifted from side to side, thinking quickly over this predicament. "Until then... we'll lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people, and keep her powers hidden from everyone."

The king then looked down at his eldest daughter, who glanced up at him with tears in her eyes, before staring down to the sleeping form of his youngest.

"...Including Anna."

* * *

_...Years later, I still kinda struggle to remember why I did it. Why I reacted the way I did that moment. The only solid answer that I could come up with was this._

_I was a loner. I had been that way ever since I became Jack Frost. But I never wanted it. I never asked for that silent eternity. It **rankled.**_

_But here was this girl, who had the love and companionship I had sought for so long, not to mention ice powers. And yet there they were, talking about closing her off from the world._

_They weren't paying attention. Or at least not to all of it. The girl had caused this. It was a terrible, terrible accident, but her powers had brought this about. It had hurt her only sister. And now, they were telling her that her powers would maybe lead to others wanting to do her harm?_

_No... Back then I knew immediately what would happen._

_And that's why I spoke up._

* * *

"What?... No, _no!_ Don't do _that!_ Then she's not gonna wanna use it anymore!"

All of a sudden, a multitude of rumbling sounds came across his hearing, and before long, every troll in the clearing turned around to face his direction. Each of their wide, round eyes were looking straight at him, blinking almost in unison at his presence.

Even the old troll king, who had been startled as well by his outburst, looked at him with something akin to fright.

This indeed caught the King of Arendelle's attention, who had stood up quickly at their reaction, along with his wife.

Jack, meanwhile, had the most wild reaction of all, having jumped back a good three feet. His jaw went slack as he saw the trolls making eye contact with him, a startled, surprised expression on his face.

No one said nothing for a good minute, Frost tilting his head to the side slightly in the meanwhile, raising an eyebrow along with his left free hand, which pointed out to the colony of trolls.

"...You guys... can see me." It was more a statement than a question.

Before anyone could answer him, the king had spoken up sharply. "What? What is it?! What's going on?!"

The old one glanced back to the monarch, before turning back to Jack. His eyes met the king's once again. "Your Majesty, do you not...?" He didn't finish the sentence, for the troll's face suddenly let off a look of understanding, before slowly shaking his head. "Do not fret, my king. It is merely the wind."

"Oh, _really?!_ C'mon!" the winter sprite cried out indignantly.

The elder troll had not turned towards him, but Jack paused when he held a hand in his direction, as if telling him to hold for a moment. "I have done all that I can, Your Majesty. Princess Anna will be fine, but she needs her rest," he expressed. "What happens next... will be up to all of you."

The king nodded in understanding, before bowing his head to him. "Thank you so much for all that you have done for us."

The queen had also bowed her head. "Words cannot begin to express how indebted we are to you for your kindness."

The rock creature merely shook his head. "There is no need, Your Grace. We are merely fulfilling our duty to the Royal Family of Arendelle."

Frost frowned as the king merely nodded at him, before hoisting his eldest daughter to his arms. "Let us return home, then. We must rest... There will be much to do tomorrow."

The trolls all bade them farewell, a mix of waves and calls of goodbye following them as they ushered themselves back to their mounts. For the most part, Jack kept his eyes on the two princesses, one sleeping peacefully now, dreaming of better things. The other, growing with fear by the second, sobbing into her father's chest.

His brows dipped sadly as they rode off for their castle. He wondered how the little girl would wake up tomorrow. Would everything seem different, because of the magic done on her? What sort of world awaited the young, redheaded princess?

He hoped that the Sandman's sand was still around. Hopefully, it would give her a good dream on the way home while she slept. For her older sister, too, while he was at it. Both seemed like they could use a break after tonight.

Shifting and rumbling then came within earshot, and the winter sprite looked back to the group of trolls, who had now shifted to form a circle around him. He actually took a step back to avoid getting his feet stepped on, inching another step forward when he saw more over his shoulder. The trolls in front of him then moved apart, forming a path for the troll king to approach him in his slow gait.

As much as he wanted to be seen, he wasn't used to this many eyes on him. It made him somewhat nervous, forcing him to clutch his crook against his right side.

Finally, the older troll stood before him, tilting his head to the side curiously. "...And who might you be, young stranger?"

Jack let out a shaky breath, blinking rapidly as he looked around at the group. "Wait, so... You guys _can_ see me, then?"

"Of course," the troll answered. "Is there a reason why we wouldn't?"

The way he said that, it was almost as if he already knew the answer, but was waiting on Jack to confirm his suspicions.

The white-haired youth merely shrugged. "Well, considering no one's said a word to me ever since the Man in the Moon woke me up all those years ago, yeah... But, maybe that's 'cause you guys are magical... I think."

At the mere mention of the moon, gasps resounded out throughout the hills, each echoing out the name 'the Man in the Moon' in reverence, most of them bowing their heads his way.

"I see," the older troll spoke, doing the same as everyone else before bowing to him. "It is an honor to receive a Guardian, one of the agents of the Man in the Moon, in our den."

Jack frowned, shaking his head and free hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's get one thing straight, alright? I'm not a Guardian, or one of _his, _okay? I'm my own... 'agent.' Yeah."

He had struggled to find a better word to describe myself, wanting to differentiate himself from the Moon's group of servants. He was on his own, just as he'd always been. The Man in the Moon hadn't involved himself with Jack, or even answered his questions. In that vein, he would do as he had done, and keep himself separate.

The troll king stood straighter, raising his bowed head. "Is that so? If you are not with the Man in the Moon, then who are you?"

"Who am I?" Jack asked, as if he hadn't heard him right. "...Don't you know? I'm-"

"_LOOK WHAT I FOOOUUUND!_"

The frosted boy's jaw stopped mid-sentence as a voice came from his far right. Turning around almost in unison with the rest of the trolls, he watched as a familiar female troll waddled over to them. And who should be dragged along with her but Kristoff and Sven.

Jack somewhat slumped as the group of trolls scuttled over to the newcomers, surrounding the female troll. They then went on to gush over the young pair, going so far as to inspect the boy's attire, the calf's hooves, Kristoff's hair, Sven's antlers, and so forth.

The winter sprite then felt a tug on his left leg, and looked down to see the troll king's hand on his pant leg.

He gave Jack a helpless shrug. "Perhaps we can continue this conversation in private?"

* * *

The old one had taken Jack into a little hut around the edges of the valley. It was very small, which fit someone of the rock troll's stature. Frost, however, had to crouch considerably to fit inside.

Looking around, he realized that the hut wasn't meant to be used as a sleeping space. In fact, it was actually used to store more of those crystals, some of which were hanging from the ceiling. They were very pretty, he saw, illuminating the room with iridescent light.

"So, uh, what are these things?" Jack asked, tapping against the crystal, and making it swivel from its rope.

"Those are crystals, lad," the old one answered, ignoring his guest's deadpanned 'Duh' expression as he reorganized some crystals placed evenly on a rock slab in the center of the room, clearing it, taking the stones to the side. "They serve as containers to capture the essence of the northern lights."

The boy's eyebrows went past his bangs. "You can do that?"

"Yes. There is much power in the northern lights. Both benevolent and dangerous. Which is why I would ask you not to disturb them, lest we find ourselves in the middle of an... accident."

"What... kind of 'accident?'"

"The kind that would be most difficult to clean up, and more trouble than it's worth. So please restrain yourself."

"What? I wasn't thinking of doin' anything!" he defended, inching away from the stone cautiously.

_'...Much...'_

The old troll gestured to the slab as he himself approached it. "Please, have a seat."

Shrugging, Jack did so, having some difficulty at first due to the cramped space. He leaned forward as he crouched down, before falling onto his rear, crossing his legs. Because there was little space for him to move, part of Jack's staff extended out of the entrance.

The old troll hopped on top of the slab, meeting the boy at eye level. "Allow me to apologize, first and foremost. I had asked you your name, but had refrained to give you mine."

"Huh?" Jack blinked. "Oh, uh... Yeah, no. Don't sweat it."

'_If you even **can** sweat,_' he muttered in his head.

Did rock people sweat? Probably not.

* * *

_They do. Stalagmites, remember?_

* * *

He bowed his head again, hand over his heart, and arm extended to the side. "I am Grand Pabbie. I am the leader of this fair colony of trolls that you find yourself amongst."

"Grand... _Pappy?_" the winter sprite tried.

"_Pabbie,_" he corrected. "It's a common mistake, especially from strangers."

"Ah," Jack nodded. "Sorry."

"Now, I ask you again. Who are you, stranger?"

"Who am I?" he returned, pointing his thumb at himself. "I'm Jack Frost."

"Jack... _Frost?_" the troll, Grand Pabbie, said out loud. "...Huh. I've never heard of you."

At this, the boy's figure slunk in on himself, an annoyed variation of his deadpanned expression on his face. It went away with a sigh.

"Yeah, well, if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one. Been trying to get everyone's attention for a while, now. And after all of this time, the only reactions I get are from animals... And maybe, every so often, magical trolls."

Pabbie considered his words. "And... how long have you existed?"

"Mmm..." Jack crossed his arms, staff over his lap in thought. "'Bout a hundred years at this point."

"Ah, I see. You're still fairly recent."

Frost's brows dipped in confusion. "Recent? Is a hundred years 'recent?'"

"It is if you're as old as the Earth," Pabbie clarified, gesturing at himself.

"Oh," Frost nodded in understanding, before leaning forward. "Hey, question for you, Pabbie. How're you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

Jack briefly swiped a look to the side, before looking back at the troll, raising his hand to the side of his mouth conspiratorially. "Y'know... Getting them to see you?"

The old troll looked confused. "See me?"

"Yeah!" Jack remarked. "You got the king and queen of this kingdom seeking you out, and even got a kid and his reindeer, too. How're you doing that?"

"...I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, you heard what I said, right?" he asked. "I can only talk to animals, and magical creatures. They're the only ones that see and hear me." He gestured at the troll with his hand for emphasis."I can also speak to the leaves. They always have something interesting to say."

The troll nodded in agreement. "Indeed, they do. It is usually how I receive news of urgent matters."

"Right?" he laughed, but his smile fell as quickly as it came. "Yet, no matter what I do, I can't ever get someone human to see me! Every time I try, they ignore me, and sometimes they go right through me!" Jack placed his hand on his chest as he said. "And lemme tell ya, little man, that doesn't feel too good!"

Over the course of his brief explanation, Grand Pabbie's expression shifted into one more understanding. "You believe that I and my fellows are under the same stipulations as you and the Moon's Guardians."

"Which, again, I'm not a part of," the whitehead reminded. "But yes."

Pabbie shrugged. "Unfortunately, we are different in that regard, Jack Frost. Whilst you were blessed by the Man in the Moon's power, we trolls are ancient creatures. We have lived long before his Guardians even existed. Our magic is not the same as yours. We are creatures of nature, and thus abide by its rules. Just as men do."

"...You're that old, huh?"

"Very."

Jack nodded at the troll's answer, but his face fell nonetheless. "Figures. You don't need his magic. You've got your own. That's why you've got royal families knockin' on your doorstep."

At the mention of the words 'royal families,' the frosted youth recalled the very reason as to why he had stumbled upon the trolls' clearing.

"Say..." He shifted from his spot on the floor to get more comfortable. "What exactly did you do to that little girl? The princess."

The troll king stroke his beard in thought, considering the boy's question. "...I could tell you... But first, tell me, what is your interest on the matter?"

"Huh?"

"Pardon my bluntness, but what concern is it of yours the state of the Crown Princesses of Arendelle?"

"...I asked about the little one. I never said I was interested in _both_ princesses," he deflected.

"Your outburst earlier says otherwise."

"Huh?"

"You clearly stated your disagreement with the choice the king was making for his daughter. That implies you have _some_ concern for the princesses."

Jack opened his mouth to respond, but faltered with a deep frown. Pabbie had him there.

"...Alright, look. I was there, okay?" he admitted to the troll king. "I was there when the accident happened."

"Were you, now?"

"Yeah," Jack answered. "I was doin' my usual thing, minding my own business, watching the Sandman do his sand thing that he does when I noticed a trail leading to the castle. That's where I saw them. The girls were still up, even after their mom tucked them in. The little one wanted to have fun, so she dragged her sister to their ballroom. And that's when I saw it! The big sister has _ice_ powers!"

His hands gestured wildly, animatedly, as he continued to explain. "She made it snow! A-and she made snowmen, and snowbanks, and they skated, a-and it all came from her hands! And it was all so wonderful! She has ice powers. She's... Sh-she's just like me!"

At this, Grand Pabbie raised a hand to stop him. "'Just like you?...' How?"

"_How?!_" Jack snapped, as if offended the troll even asked such a question. Then he stopped himself, realizing that he didn't, in fact, know. "Oh, right. Hold up. Gimme a sec."

Frost then proceeded to try to crawl out of the hut. He had to struggle quite a bit, accidentally hitting the troll in the face with his foot, for which he quickly apologized. Once he was back outside, he quickly shot up to his feet, dusting off the gravel from his person, and kicking his staff up to his hand.

Looking down at the troll, he grinned confidently as he tightened his hold on his staff. "Get a load of _this!_"

Taking a deep breath, he allowed the energy within his staff - or so he believed at this time - to channel through the warrior's wood, illuminating it with blue, frosty light. Then he brought the bottom of his staff to floor. Upon immediately making contact, a large splotch of frost extended out around the staff, spreading out past his feet, and even reaching to where Pabbie stood. The crook of Jack's staff also shot out a burst of power, making snowflakes condense in the air, and fall down gracefully, undisturbed.

Grinning even wider at the look of old Pabbie's slacked jaw, Jack Frost then jumped up, and placed his staff under him, sitting on it in mid-air like a bench.

"...You..." the old troll whispered, finally understanding what the frost sprite meant. "You, _too,_ have powers over ice and snow."

Jack let out a helpless shrug, though not really meaning it. "Yeah." He then leaned back and fell backwards, extending his arms out to grab his staff, and landing on the floor with his two feet. The boy then brought the crook over his shoulders to rest, his arms looping around it.

"...How did you come across these powers?" Pabbie inquired with interest. "Were they granted to you, or did you always have them?"

"You mean if I was born with them or cursed?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow, shrugging off his staff so that it fell to his right side. "Well... Bit of both... Maybe?"

"How so?"

"Well... I've had them for as long as I can remember," he explained. "One day, I'm raised up from a frozen pond by the Moon, who told me my name. Then I got this stick." He gestured to his wooden crook. "And I realized I could conjure ice with it. And I could fly! Well, not really '_fly,_' so much as be pushed into the air by the wind- anyway, long story short, I've always had them."

The boy then let out a weary sigh. One that belonged to those who had lived for a long time. _Too_ long. "Whether or not I've always had them, or if they were given to me and why... I don't know. Only one that can answer that is the Man in the Moon." He then looked up at the full moon in the sky, and give it a harsh glare. "Not that he's ever said anything to me since, so don't hold your breath on that front."

The old troll nodded, considering his words. "So what brought you to Arendelle, then?"

Jack shrugged helplessly. "Nothing new. Just searching for my next adventure, hoping to find someone who can see me. The usual for a guy like me."

"And that is how you stumbled upon the princesses," he stated, finally understanding the events which led the winter sprite to their land.

"Yeah... But they couldn't see me. Still, I stuck around long enough to see what happened."

"Did you, now?"

"Yeah, but it was an _accident!_" he argued, surprising himself at how vehemently he was trying to convey that fact. "They were just playing around, trying to have fun! But the little one, she got reckless! They were making snowbanks, and she was jumping too fast! Her sister couldn't keep up, and... I-it just came out. She didn't mean to hurt her."

"Of course," Pabbie agreed, holding his hand up to assuage the boy's anxiousness. "However, Elsa must still learn to control her powers, lest they become too dangerous for herself and her family."

"_...Elsa..._" Jack whispered softly, repeating it after a few seconds. "That's her name? The girl with the magic?"

"It is," the troll confirmed.

"...Pabbie, you said that... that 'fear will be her enemy," he asked. "_...Whose_ fear?"

"...It greatly depends," he answered, lifting one hand to side. "Ultimately, it will be the young princess' fear, and her strength to overcome it, that will be the deciding factor. If she can learn to control her powers, she will never have to fear herself again, and the people will accept her."

"But... If she cannot learn to control it, if her fear overwhelms her, her powers will grow beyond her control. They could cause damage the likes of which are irreparable, putting herself, her family, and her kingdom in danger." Pabbie then turned to face Frost, his face grave with implication. "...Perhaps even more than that."

"Yeah, but... B-but she _can_ learn to control her powers, right?" Jack asked loudly. "I-I mean, look at me! I figured it out, and can control my powers just fine! Surely she can learn to do the same, can't she?"

"It is my belief that she can," Pabbie revealed. "Though it won't be easy."

"Well, duh! 'Course not!" Jack retorted. "Especially with what they're gonna do! Hide her away from the world? That'll work, but it would take too long!"

"You sound as if you speak from experience," the troll king observed.

"Yeah! I've only been around, what, a hundred years?" he boasted. "Took me the first couple of decades to get it down to a T, but that's because I didn't hide away. I went out and did my thing, no distractions. In fact, my distractions _were_ what taught me how to perfect them! But I had all the time in the world to do it. She _doesn't!_"

"They keep her locked up until she learns control, and her whole life's gonna pass her by! She's not gonna go out to play, she's not gonna go out to see the world. She's not gonna be able to be with her sister. You didn't...!" Jack ran a hand through his hair, groaning in frustration, the reason for which still eluded her. "They looked so close. And now they're gonna be forced apart. Not just her sister, but the world. By the time she learns control... she'll barely have a semblance of a life left to live."

What followed his tirade was silence. The old troll was stroking his mane in thought, eyes firmly on the ground. Jack looked over his shoulder to glance at the rock creature, but sighed and looked away, placing his staff over his right shoulder.

"...Then it seems... the princess would benefit from the aid of a tutor. One that can show her how to control her powers of ice and snow."

The winter sprite laughed, but it sounded more like a scoff. "Yeah, and who's gonna do that? Pretty sure that there aren't any teachers versed in that kind of magic. Not from what I've seen so far, at least."

"No, not just any teacher would suffice for her," Pabbie agreed, a knowing smile growing on his face. "But... perhaps _Jack Frost_ will be enough."

The sprite blinked at the very mention of his name, but then furrowed his eyes in confusion as he slowly glanced at the troll over his shoulder. "...What?"

Pabbie said nothing, merely watching him with an expectant look in his eyes.

As the boy's eyes met the troll's, the weight of his words finally dawned on him. "You... You want _me_ to teach her?"

"I see no other person more capable and up to the task."

"O-ho-ho-kay, whoa, whoa whoa, hold up a sec," Jack chuckled, albeit more out of unease than anything sardonic. "I can't... I can't just teach her how to use her powers!"

"Why not?"

"Why not? _Why not?!_" Frost repeated, running a hand through his hair anxiously. "I mean, c'mon! Look at me!" He extended the cape of his shawl.

"...I don't follow."

"C'mon, really? I'm _Jack Frost!_ Rules and commitment don't mix with me!" he cried, bringing a hand to his chest. "Only thing I know how to do is have fun! I can't do that if I'm locked up in a castle!"

"But you won't be alone," Pabbie corrected. "You will be with the princess."

"Yeah, that's the other problem with your plan. _No one_ can see me," he reiterated. "I've tried everything for the past hundred years to get people to notice me, and still, they treat me like I'm invisible! It's as if I'm not even there! Pretty sure that's not gonna change if I don't know what's causing it! The moon hasn't told me why!" A long, heavy, weary sigh escaped his lips. "And judging by how she reacted to my outburst, the princess can't see me either... Kinda puts a whole damper on your whole plan, old timer."

Considering his words, Pabbie walked right before him. "True as that may be, there might also be a possibility, if our meeting is any indication."

Jack's brows dipped, his frown lightening in confusion as he kneeled down to the troll's level. "What are you talking about?"

"You and I can interact with each other, though our sources of magic are different," he began. "Yours comes from the Man in the Moon, and mine comes from the very Earth itself. However, it is my belief that when two energies of pure magic come together, that is when the realm of impossibility becomes the realm of possibility. Where that which brings disbelief to some makes believers out of us all."

"...Is this where I wax philosophical, little man, or... what?"

"Your powers, and that of Elsa's, are similar in nature. Should they be made to interact with one another, it may lead to unimaginable possibilities. Wonders. Perhaps... even _Belief._"

"...Lemme see if I'm hearing you right," Frost sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You think... that because _you_ have magic, and _I_ have magic, and _she_ has magic, she'll be more... _inclined_ to see me?"

"I am not promising anything. It is mere postulation on my part," the troll king reminded. "But considering our meeting today... is it truly so unimaginable an outcome?"

Jack thought on his words, clutching his staff tightly at the implication behind them.

"...Really?" he asked unsurely. A growing, distant thing fluttering in his chest. It felt a lot like hope. "You think I can... I can get her to see me?"

"...I have been on this Earth for so long. I have seen many wonders, both great and terrible," Pabbie relayed, almost distantly, wistfully. "But if there is one thing I have learned to be true, it is this: magic has the power to make anything become reality. Where one sees despair, it has the power to bring hope. Where there is darkness, magic has the means to bring light." He then grasped the boy's free hand, gripping it reassuringly. "Where there is loneliness... magic has the means to bring out love."

Once the troll had finished speaking, Jack gently retracted his hand, placing it back on his staff, and letting the frost engulf the wood beneath his grip, his face still scrunching in uncertainty.

Was it really possible? Could the magic this girl possessed really make it possible for her to see him? In truth, after all this time, he had never focused on a single child, at least for too long. Once he had shown off his wonders, only to get silence thrown back at him, he had gone on his way, off to his next destination. But never before had he tried after the fact.

Was it really that simple? Did he just need more patience?

And what of this new girl? This... Elsa? That was her name. She was just like him. She commanded the snow almost as well as he did, save for this unfortunate accident. Could that really be the key, though? Their shared magic of ice and snow? Could it really be strong enough for him to be seen by her? Would it be enough to end all of those years of unwanted isolation?

This past day certainly had its fair share of firsts. His first visit to Arendelle. His first visit to its monarchs. His first sight of another ice user. His first encounter with the rock trolls.

Who was to say he couldn't get his first believer here?

It was just like the old troll said. Considering everything he had seen... was it _really_ so impossible an outcome?

"...Okay," he whispered, looking off to the side in thought, before slowly nodding his head. "Okay, yeah." His bobbing became more animated, a smile slowly growing wide on his features. "_Yeah!_ I'll do it! I'll help her out!" He shot up to his feet, nodding towards the troll. "I'll help her. Get her to control her powers. Get her to see me! Before this is over, she'll be a pro at using her magic! She'll be so good, _everyone'll_ love her!"

At that, the troll king gave Jack a grateful smile of his own. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Jack Frost. Should you need any assistance or wisdom when you find yourself lacking, you are more than welcome to return to our valley. But I have faith you will find a way. If anyone can help Princess Elsa, it is you."

"Yeah. Right!" Jack turned to leave, raising his staff to take him away. "Wish me luck! I'm off to Arendelle!"

"_Wait!_"

Frost had barely left the floor when Grand Pabbie's cry had stopped him. He glanced back at the old troll, surprise etched on his face, considering the conversation both had just had. "What?!"

"Perhaps... you should wait until the morning? The girls need their sleep."

"...Oh... Right. Hehe," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "Yeah. Tomorrow. Sure... _See ya!_"

With that, Jack flew into the air, heading for parts unknown. Maybe to spread some snow to where they could use it.

But tomorrow, he would be back in Arendelle.

* * *

_At first, I was pretty reluctant 'cause of all of my__ previous attempts to be visible. But right then, I actually found that I couldn't wait for the next day to come._

_I vowed to myself, right then and there, that I would do whatever it takes to become Elsa's friend._

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**-CHAPTER THREE END**

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**AN: Back with a new chapter!**

**I hope I really did capture the characters correctly here, especially Jack. Ever since that scene with Anna in the troll garden, I felt Jack's first meeting with the trolls would be something similar.**

**Anyway, I've done some thinking and planning ahead for this story, and have decided that I'm going to do a sequel.**

**I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to do for the sequel, bur again, that also depends on how Frozen 2 goes. As for this one, after much deliberation, I've decided to keep it true to the movie, at least during the coronation, with some alterations here or there.**

**Originally I was going to have this warlock be an antagonist after Elsa's powers, with someone from the castle that is trusted as an accomplice. But it didn't pan out, especially after Frozen 2 leaks started popping out. Still, I'm pretty satisfied with where I'm going to go with this, and I hope that you guys come along for the ride.**

**Thank you all so much again for keeping up with my story. Again, feel free to send me prompts that I can right about during the ten year gap between now and the deaths of the king and queen. Not just for Jack and Elsa, but for Jack and Anna. Maybe even Kristoff.**

**And remember...**

**READ & REVIEW!**

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**Next Chapter: Jack moves into the castle, while everybody else moves out.**


	5. Chapter 4: Changing Spaces

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

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***~*~*~ _Chapter Four:_ Changing Spaces ~*~*~***

* * *

_And before anyone could even blink... tomorrow had already come._

* * *

"_WOOOOOOHOO!_" Jack whooped as he soared through the sky, before making a long dive towards the Kingdom of Arendelle. "_GOOOOOD MORNIN', EVER-Y-BODYYYY!_"

Flipping forward in mid-air, Frost landed gracefully, feet-first, onto the top of Arendelle's clock tower, jumping up to his feet with arms outstretched. A wide smile on his face, he leaned over the edge to get a good look at the kingdom in the morning. Scanning over the streets, he charted the path he would take, knowing what he would do at which corner, and what tricks he would pull off on the way. His icy blue eyes then landed on Arendelle Castle, the finish line to his upcoming stunt.

The youth snickered, taking a step back. He rubbed his hands together, and shaking his arms in anticipation. "Time for today's first spot of fun!"

With that declaration, he dashed right for the edge of the clock tower balcony. Right before reaching the end, however, he stopped. In the next breath, he spun around, making his back face the city. Then he crossed his arms behind his head, staff over his shoulders, and crossed his right leg over his left.

Without hesitation, he leaned back, and fell off the clock tower.

A confident smile was etched on his face as he plummeted towards the ground. In the last few moments, however, he unfurled all of his limbs, and twisted in mid-air, facing the oncoming ground.

Gripping his crook tightly, Jack ushered the wind to carry him upward, and before long, the gusts took him, saving him from becoming a splatter on the ground. Back flipping in mid-air, the winter sprite went so far as to place his staff beneath his feet, riding it as if he were standing on top of a horse.

* * *

_Really, a better way to describe that is like riding a skateboard, or a snowboard, or a surfboard, or any kind of board. But those weren't even around at the time._

* * *

As his warrior's wood landed on a rooftop, the wintry youth flipped forward, and landed on his feet to sprint along its tiles. He leapt from house to house, trailing frost in his wake, and even hopping against chimneys and such. He slid down along the sloping rooftops, and then used the wind to jump up to the top of the next one over.

Jack then finally reached the end of the house row, and then dove forward towards a nearby pole. Extending his staff out, the crook caught the metal, making the frosted daredevil spin around it, gripping his staff tightly as he went around and around in circles. Eventually, he pulled away from the stand, and was sent flying toward a house's closed window. Twisting, he reoriented his body to meet the glass with his bare feet, which he did, bending his legs down to crouch against the pane before just as quickly kicking off it, leaving behind a splotchy imprint of frost.

Flipping vertically side-to-side, he landed on the concrete floor of the streets, but didn't stop, using his staff to create an ice trail to continue skating along. As he passed through the city, even in his prior stunts before getting here, the wind had followed his wake, brushing harshly against anyone present within his immediate area. If someone was walking past him, they would be scrambling for their hats, bags, and other such items. Same for when windows were open, and papers were loose. The sharp gusts fluttered them out of the windowpane, as their owners, if they were present, desperately reached out for them.

Jack raved through Arendelle, skating past many a civilian and over guardrails of small stairs and piers in the town. Before long, however, he was coming across the town square, where stood the grand bridge that led to Arendelle Castle. His smirk stretched into a grin, for this next part was to be the grand finale.

"_Alright, Wind!_" he cried, hoisting his staff forward. "_Let's wrap this up with some flair!_"

Strong gusts then fluctuated from behind him as he jumped into the air, propelling him higher then one would in a regular leap. In fact, his momentum was the same, the air bursts launching him straight past the high wall of the castle.

With a final whoop, he did a front flip in mid-air, before landing on his feet in a crouch, and then jumping to his full height in the middle of the castle's courtyard.

"_TA-DAAA!_" he cheered out, hands outstretched grandly at his sides, his chest heaving after all of the excitement.

Of course, as per his usual days out and about, nobody reacted to the wintry youth's grand entrance.

However, that was not to say the reason why was because the courtyard was empty. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Right in front of Jack stood a large crowd of people, each wearing similar attire. Frost recognized it instantly as the uniforms belonging to those who worked within the castle. These were servants and maids. The boy actually blinked at the size of them.

"Huh," he mused, bringing his left hand to his chin. "Wonder what's the occasion?"

With that, he strode into the crowd, greeting each person that he walked past.

"Hello. Hello! Hey there! 'Scuse me, how you doin'? Good to see ya!"

All the while, he heard a multitude of murmurs and whispers conspire amongst them.

"Why were we summoned to the courtyard?"

"I don't know."

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"When will the king appear?"

"What's taking him so long?"

"What happened last night?"

The king had summoned this congregation, it seemed. Jack felt like he knew the reason why, but it had escaped him at that moment. He was too caught up on what he going to do today, after all.

Before long, he had made it to the front of he assembled group, looking around with a smile. After waiting for a few minutes, his grin constricted into a grimace.

His face then lit up when a fun, amusing idea occurred to him. Looking left and right, the winter sprite then ran forward, making his way to the top of the steps, before turning around to face the congregating servants.

Clearing his throat, the invisible young man took a deep breath, and then addressed them. "_Goooood_ morning, servants of Arendelle Castle! How're you guys doin' today?!"

Everybody still went about their business, some keeping their eyes expectantly on the grand doorway to the castle before them, or continuing their hushed whispers in private.

"No doubt some of you are pretty alarmed at what you're seeing before you. That's understandable, I know. You might be asking yourselves some questions, too," he continued. "Like, 'Who's this strapping young lad before us?' 'Why's he covered in frost?' 'Why is his hair white?'" He raised his foot towards them. "'Why isn't he wearing any shoes?!'"

"Fret not, people, for I assure you, I mean you all no harm," he assured, raising a placating hand towards the men and women. "In fact, I mean you the _opposite_ of harm!... At least as far as harming goes. Some of you may be subjected to a prank or two... but I assure you, they're mostly harmless!"

"For I am a traveling adventurer, who's presence has been ignored for far too long, yet has managed to have his attention be pinpointed here, towards your crown princess. A wandering nomad who only wishes to experience the wonders of the world, and share it with others! And, of course, spread some fun along the way!"

"Someone whom shares the particular talents of one of your crown princesses, and has decided to share his expertise with her, so that she, too, may go back to spreading fun safely, masterfully, and happily! For her and her sister both!"

"But enough dilly-dallying. It's high-time I introduced myself. You, ladies and gentlemen, are looking at a one-of-a-kind guy! A winter sprite with the power to control ice and snow, who really only wants to have fun. That's right, you're lookin' at the one... The _onlyyy..._ _Jaaack Frooost!_"

The invisible youth then did a grand wave to gesture at himself, and took a bow. He was then startled by the sudden sound of trumpets playing out their sounds. It was the type of grand music used for when someone of importance was making their appearance.

And he could think of no one in this instance but himself, which was why the entire thing had caught him off guard.

"Whoa, what? Y-you guys were expecting...? Whoa, okay!" he chuckled awkwardly. "Wasn't expecting you guys to make such a big deal for my arrival! Did Pabbie reach out to you guys, or- _Ack!_"

While he was rambling off to himself, Jack hadn't seen the King and Queen of Arendelle walk through the grand doors, having been drowned out by the trumpets. He did, however, feel the king phase through him, cutting him off with the chill of disbelief going through.

"Wha?!... Oh. _Ooooh..._" he realized after letting out a sharp breath. "The music was for the king and queen, not... Ah. I see. Tch, drat."

As the royal pair approached the edge of the stairs, everyone in the courtyard ceased what they were doing, though there were some gasps among the crowd. Each one was of alarm over the arrival of the monarchs. Their hushed whispers before standing to attention gave away as much.

"_The king!_"

"_It's the king!_"

"_The king and queen are here!_"

Jack walked onto some of the steps to stand between the couple and their assembled congregation, glancing over to the monarchs curiously.

Immediately, Frost spotted the looks of apprehension on both of their faces. The queen's mouth was dipped in an reluctant grimace, while the king himself had a remorseful frown. Nevertheless, he was taking a few deep breaths, as if steeling himself.

After another exhale of breath through his mouth, the King finally addressed his constituents. "Good morning to you all, my loyalest of subjects. I am most appreciative that you have all made it out here on this day."

"No doubt you are asking yourselves why I have summoned all of you out here," he continued. "I will divulge that to all of you in a moment. So please hold while I first speak my piece."

"Firstly, let me begin by stating that my gratitude to every single one of you is immense. For many years, you have all served my family and I without question, performing your duties admirably. Whether it was assisting with our balls, or gatherings, ringing in the new year, or... or assisting us with our daughters and their mischief. Each and everyone of you has held themselves steadfast, managing to keep your kindness in your hearts. For that, I can not begin to express how thankful my family and I are to have had you all in our service."

"...Which is why... what I am to do next is one of the most disheartening things I will ever have to do," he finally revealed with a heavy sigh.

The King of Arendelle took another moment to look at his servants, seemingly trying to do his best to meet their eyes. He figured that he at least owed them that much.

"Some of you may or may not have noticed this, but there are some of your fellow workers that are not in attendance with us this morning. The reason that is so... is because the staff not in attendance will be remaining in our employ for the foreseeable future. The rest of you... will not."

Frost could hear the collective gasps and cries of alarm from the crowd of - as of now - former servants, looking at their monarchs in surprise, shock, and growing dread.

The king held his hands up placatingly as the cries began to grow. "Please! I understand how alarming this may be! Believe me, I do! However, after last night, my priorities have shifted considerably!" he explained. "As King of Arendelle, I must make sure that my attention is focused on both the safety of my kingdom, its people, and my family! That is what takes precedent now!"

"But worry not, my friends! I assure you, I will not leave you to your own devices!" he assured, bring his placating hands down. "In the coming days, I shall be sending out royal decrees across the kingdom. These decrees shall order any and all businesses within the kingdom to allow you employment in the fields you are all most versed in. These are direct demands of the Royal House of Arendelle, and they shall be honored. I swear it on my honor!"

At this, the fired workers began to relax a bit more, if not completely. Jack couldn't help but nod in approval, worried over how these people and their families would fare from this. "Nice save, Your Highness."

"_However!_" Arendelle's king blurted out, catching everyone's attention immediately. "That is not to say that it will not require something on your part. This is, for all intents and purposes, an exchange. In return for my decree, I only ask one thing from all of you."

He waited until he was certain everyone was looking at him before revealing his terms. "In exchange for my decree... I ask that all of you not speak to anyone outside this castle's walls about what has gone on inside. Specifically... my daughter's special talents. I would please ask that all of you, until such a later time that I deem it alright, mention to no one of her abilities."

His brows dipped in a glower. "Furthermore, should any of word of this kind ever escape into the town, rest assured, we will know of it. We have the means. And if it did come from one of you, be it out of spite, or a moment's weakness, I will assure you that the full extent of Arendelle's law will brought down upon any of you who have carried that wicked deed, should it ever come to pass."

His glare remained for another few moments, and even Jack felt a sliver of unease at it. It was certainly enough to make him look away. Before long, though, the King's hot glare sizzled considerably, returning to that sympathetic, warm gaze that he had before.

"Know this, however. Though I give you these words gravely, and it brings me great sorrow that I even have to utter them, I am firmly of the conviction that there is nothing to fear. I know all of you. And I know that none of you will ever betray the trust that the Royal House of Arendelle has given to you, because we know you deserve it. I know this because I have seen it firsthand. The dedication and love that you have given me, your peers, and above all, my family. You are all too kind. And that, more than anything, is what tears my heart over this unfortunate, yet necessary measure."

"It is my hope that someday, perhaps you would all be willing to work under this house once again. To serve my daughters, and spread the love that you have always given me to them... However, until that day comes, I will do what is required of me. To do what I must to protect this kingdom, its people, and my family."

Steeling himself again, his voice increased in volume. "In the coming days, I will announce a royal decree that state that from then-on, the gates of Arendelle Castle will be closed to the public!" At this, stunned voices grew in intensity and confusion. "I am letting you all know this beforehand, as a token of my appreciation to your service to this kingdom. So says I, King Agnarr of Arendelle! So it shall be!"

_"So it shall be..."_ the crowd echoed out, though with not as much energy as the king.

"...Agnarr? _That's_ your name? _Agnarr?_" Jack couldn't help but chuckle, but composed himself once he looked back to the shocked crowd. Some of them were even shedding tears at this point. "Er, sorry..."

"I thank you all once again for coming here today, and for your years of service," he once again expressed gratefully, bowing his head to them all. "I hope we all meet again. But until that day comes, please leave the castle's premises. Farewell. And may fortune follow you all on your future endeavors."

Standing straight again, King Agnarr gave back one final solemn look towards his former handmaidens and butlers before turning back towards the door, marching back inside. Frost's breath caught itself, and quickly taking a glance back at some of the castle's guards ushering the unemployed people out of the castle's gates, Jack ran off after them.

As the door closed behind him, he saw the people escorted out of the castle's courtyard. Then, with finality, the grand doors closed behind him.

"Reduce the staff... Right," Jack muttered as he recalled the king's vow the night before.

Walking inside the castle's main foyer, he could see the grand staircase he had walk down from the day before. The was were lined with red wallpaper, and the wooden floors were polished to an unnatural shine. Several windows were open, with a rhombus shapes in between, However, there were servants - those that were still around to serve the castle, that is - were closing them.

Jack could feel the dour atmosphere as he strutted down the hall, following behind the queen, who in turned followed the king, Agnarr. He briefly recalled her appearance during Agnarr's speech. She was quiet, frowning the entire time. Her eyes had been opened during the beginning, but after her husband had announced his decree, the Queen's eyes had closed off in what the invisible youth could only assume was sorrow. The woman had opened them again only after King Agnarr retreated back inside.

Jack was approaching the royal couple now, the only reason being because the king had stopped right before the staircase, and seated himself down at the bottom of the steps. He would swear later on that the very moment the king was fully seated was the moment he heard the castle's gates close outside.

They wouldn't open up again for the next thirteen years.

The queen sat down beside her love, heedless of Jack standing right in front of them. "My love, are you alright?"

King Agnarr, for his part, ran a hand down his face wearily, the strain of what he had just done finally showing on his features. "...It had to be done, Iduna. I know that. But... It still pains me so to sever our ties with them... I can only imagine how the kingdom will react."

The queen, Iduna, nodded her head grimly, grimacing. "Perhaps... There may very well be an uproar. But we've already settled on this course for ourselves. We cannot waver from it now." Her grimace then turned into a compassionate frown, glancing back at her husband as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "But that's not what's worrying you, is it?"

A small smile rose from his lips as Agnarr placed his hand over hers. "You know me so well," he admitted, before looking worried again. "It's Elsa... She's very likely to blame herself for this. And I don't want that."

"I know," his wife agreed. "But we can only hope that she has the strength to control her powers on her own. Until then... we must make sure to stand beside her side. She must always know that she has our love, no matter what comes. It is the best... perhaps the _only_ thing we can do."

"Perhaps..." Agnarr agreed softly, almost as if in thought. "Or perhaps... Perhaps the trolls can help us again, should something-"

"_Dear,_" the queen interrupted sternly, but it didn't exactly reach her eyes. "You're getting ahead of yourself again."

The king's face fell upon this realization, before placing his hand on his forehead with a small smile. "Forgive me. I just..." He only sighed. "I'm just worried for our daughter..."

"...You don't think she's up for the task?"

"Of _course_ I do," he affirmed immediately. And he meant it.

Iduna then grasped his hand. "Then have faith. Our daughter will see this through."

"...I will."

The two then shared an embrace, holding each other from their sides.

Jack smiled softly at their exchange, before making a vow before them. "Don't you guys worry about her. I'll give Elsa the help she needs. Promise."

Frost had let his crook lean against his shoulder their whole conversation, but now he gripped it again, rapping the bottom tip of it in affirmation. "Alrighty, then, let's get started! Where's the magical tyke? Gotta meet her first if we're gonna put a stop to this whole isolation thing ASAP."

A voice from above then caught his, as well as the two monarchs', attention. "Your Majesty. An update."

Looking up, both Jack and the royals saw the plump, balding man from the prior evening, who had helped the other maid with their horses. He recalled that his name was Kai.

"The servants... Those remaining that is... are beginning to move out Princess Elsa's furnishings into her new nursery," he relayed with a bow.

"And Elsa?" King Agnarr asked.

"Where you left her, Your Highness."

It was then that Frost deduced where they were keeping the little girl. "Right, her bedroom!" He smacked himself in the forehead. "_Duh!_ Pabbie _did_ say to let them sleep. They're still probably there." With that, he began to make his way up the stairs, but not before saluting the head overseer. "Thanks, Kai!"

As he ascended the steps, he could hear the queen thanking her servant. "Thank you so much, Kai. For your fortitude, as well. I know these changes haven't been easy for you, considering your family in..."

Jack didn't hear the rest of it, having dashed up the stairs, trying to find the princesses' bedroom. After getting to the top and taking a few steps, however, he realized something he had overlooked. Though he recalled that the girls' bedroom was on the top floor, the wintry lad had not bothered to familiarize himself with where it was. It wouldn't do for him to get lost on the way over to the princess, so how was he going to find her?

"...Is Elsa in trouble?"

The answer, it seemed, came literally out of thin air. Inching his head in the direction of the young voice, Jack grinned eagerly as he followed after it.

"No, Princess. Of course not," answered a voice belonging to an older woman.

"But then why is Elsa moving out of our room?"

Running past servants who were closing every window, making a mental note to find one that he can unlock from the inside later, Jack had finally found a familiar doorway from which the voice had originated from. At first he had an excited grin plastered over his face, but it dimmed ever so slightly when he saw what was happening.

Various servants were taking furniture from one half of the room, and were moving out of the bedroom. A group of five were in the process of disassembling the bed on the left side of the room, halfway done with the task. It was Elsa's bed, he realized.

And on the other side of the room, sitting on the edge of her bed with a confused expression, was Elsa's little sister. Anna, Jack recalled overhearing yesterday.

No longer wearing her sleeping gown, she was now wearing a dress over a formal buttoned olive undershirt with puffy sleeves The dress' torso area was a lighter color of green, with a purple crocus over the middle, something which Jack saw often around Arendelle, he realized. Her skirt was teal green, and went down halfway to her shins. Around the lower rim of the skirt was a green outline, and above those were rows of images of purple flowers. On her feet were olive stockings, and black slip-ons.

Her hair was the same style as it was yesterday. Two pigtails by the nape of her neck, her bangs combed towards the right.

The only difference... was the platinum blonde streak that was now present behind her bangs.

An older woman, the same one who had helped Kai yesterday with the horse - Gerda, he remembered - briefly stepped away from overseeing the canopy's deconstruction, and turned back to Anna with a regretful smile. "The King and Queen have ordered it, I'm afraid. They feel it is time for both of you to have your own rooms."

"But I don't want my own room! I wanna play with Elsa!" she cried in protest, pouting as she did so.

The head maid could only smile apprehensively at her. "I'm sorry, Princess, but we cannot go against the orders of your parents."

At this, the princess sulked on her mattress, crossing her arms with a pout. As Frost approached by the bedside, she wiggled her feet in thought, biting her lips as the gears turned in her head.

Finally, she jumped up in her seat, her eyes lighting up as an idea came to her. "Well, maybe I should make an order!" she cried. "What if I tell you to stop taking Elsa's stuff, and put it back where it belongs? And bring Elsa back in here, too!"

Jack let out a soft chuckle as he sat down on the bed next to her. "Yeah, don't think that's how it works, Princess." Gerda told Anna as much a second later.

"Why not?! I'm the princess, and I can make royal orders like my parents, so I order you all to let me be with Elsa!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to talk to your parents about that," the older head maid winced. "Until then, we must do as they say."

Groaning, Anna fell back on her bed, arms stretching backwards. Not even three second later, she got up, and hopped off the bed. Striding towards the vanity on the left side of her bed, she went over to the seat before it. Struggling briefly to get on it, Anna eventually found her footing, and looked at herself in the mirror. Letting out a sigh, she then realized that some of bangs were unkempt.

The invisible boy kicked off the bed, and calmly trekked over to her, leaning forward to make his face right next to hers in the reflection of the mirror... not that she could see him.

_'Yet,'_ Jack reasoned helplessly to himself.

The redheaded princess took the brush from the top of the desk, and began brushing her bang tentatively, carefully. The whole time, her wide blue eyes were on streak, examining it.

"Better not try to take this streak, too, since they're moving all of Elsa's other stuff out... Looks a lot like her hair," she muttered to herself, scrunching up her nose in thought. "I mean, it's pretty cool. It stands out. Like her."

The way the girl talked... It was almost as if she had had that streak for longer than a day, and hadn't gotten it in a horrible accident the night before.

_'Pabbie sure did his job right, I guess...'_

"I'm with ya there, kiddo," Frost agreed, tugging on one of his own spiky locks of frostbitten hair, taking note of just how much freckles where on her face. "There's something to be said about hair like ours. Maybe it's an ice magic thing?"

Putting down the brush, finished with fixing her hair, the freckled girl let out another loud sigh before plopping off the chair, walking through Jack as he was still fixing his hair. Letting out a sigh through his nose, he watched as the girl climbed back onto her bed, eliciting a muffled moan due to her face being buried in the mattress. She then turned around on her back, kind of how like she had the previous night when she was waking her sister up to play.

Back when everything was alright.

The grim thoughts escaped the winter sprite when she began rolling along her bed, moaning out in protest of her boredom. She rolled on her side towards the headboard of her canopy, before rolling over to the other end. She did so again, rolling in a half circle, and stopping right as she reached the other edge of the bed closer to her fireplace. Hopping to the top of the front board of the canopy, Jack chuckled as he watched Anna's arm dangle over the edge in boredom, her eyes following after it left and right.

Smiling down at her, Jack could only shrug helplessly as he crouched down to be closer to her eye level. "Sorry, kiddo. Wish I could help you out right now, but I gotta find your sister first."

With that, the frosty youth pushed off her bedpost, and did a back-flip in midair. Landing on his feet with the grace of cat, Jack gave her an apologetic grimace.

"I promise, though, I _promise,_ I'm gonna make time to help you out with your boredom," he assured confidently. "Just gimme a chance to settle in, and I'll help you out, Freckles. Promise!"

With that, he hopped out of the room, and followed the servants carrying out the furniture from the sisters' - now _Anna's_ \- bedroom. Looping his staff around his arms as he walked, it wasn't long before he found their intended destination, which was on the same floor as the redheaded younger sister.

He spun his crook in his right hand, before holding the arm behind him, where his left hand was waiting for it. Not skipping a beat, he continued to twirl the warrior's wood as he brought it back before him from his left side. Flicking his wrist up, he then watched as it spun in mid air, eyes narrowing slightly as he kept a track of its position. Piecing together where it was going to land, Jack inched his right shoulder upward slightly, before bumping it against his staff as it landed on it. The impact made it pivot into the air for a few seconds mote, but the boy snatched it right before gravity could take a hold of it. And right when he turned to face the doorway to the other princess' room, where all the servants were going to, was when he placed his staff on his right shoulder again.

However, it fell to his side limply, along with his arm, as what he saw killed his anticipation. Amidst the pounding thumps of hammers and tools reassembling the canopy that had been taken apart in the other room, Jack had quickly discerned from where he stood that Princess Elsa wasn't there.

Feeling another harsh chill as one of the servants walked through him, carrying a chair in her arms, the invisible boy moved to the side of the doorway, crossing his arms as his lips pursed to the side in thought.

"Okay... They haven't moved her into her new room yet," he openly thought to himself, eyes glancing to the side as he continued his deductions. "Where they left her... If she's not in her room, they probably put her somewhere else. Somewhere out of the way, and no one would bother to go to. Maybe avoid..."

Avoid... Stay away from...

It clicked within a minute.

* * *

Jack had found the nearest window - making doubly sure to keep it open in case he needed to get back in - and bounded out of it, looking for the destination he had in mind. Searching through his memories of the night before, it didn't take the winter sprite long for him to backtrack to the familiar sight of the castle library.

And sure enough, as he landed right outside the window pane, a smile widened on his features. For standing right before the bookcase to his right from where he floated... was the Snow Princess, Elsa.

She was looking at the bookcase that her father had gone through the night before, a forlorn expression on her features. Her tiny hands were clasped in front of her, a heavy frown on her features.

She, too, had ditched her nightgown for more regular attire, or as regular one could be for a princess. She wore a formal buttoned cyan undershirt under a dress, like Anna. For Elsa, though, the torso was colored a prussian blue, with a with the image of a four-petaled flower over her chest. That same flower was outlined by a black ring above the edges of her sharp blue skirt, which also went halfway down to her shins. On her feet were cyan stockings, and dark blue slip-ons. The other major difference between her and Anna, aside from the very color scheme of their attire, was that Elsa also wore a sharp blue blazer, the edges of which were outlined with black, along with her cuffs.

Grinning triumphantly, Jack racked the side of his noggin with a closed fist. "Never let it be said that I don't learn from my mistakes." With that, he proceeded to push the window open...

Only for it to not go all the way through.

His victorious zeal immediately dying, evident by his smile falling into a slacked jaw, the winter sprite pushed against the glass once again, only to be met with resistance on all attempts.

"Aw, no, _no-ho!_ Are you kidding me?!" he cried, looking at no one in particular. "I _learned!_ I learned my lesson! Don't judge a book by its cover! I overlooked the fact libraries are boring! And now that I'm making up for it, you're gonna slam the door on my face?! _C'mon!_"

Whether he was talking to the Moon - unlikely, given it was daytime - or something else entirely, Jack Frost had to curse something except for himself. How was he supposed to know they were going to close _every_ window?

Pushing the window again with his hand, Jack let out a frustrated groan. Unable to do much else, he peered back inside... and froze.

The little girl had stopped her brooding, and was facing the window he was in front of.

She was facing him.

"...Huh?" he whispered, eyes slowly rising in realization, as well as growing hope. "...H-hey... H-hey! Can you... Can you _see me?!_"

Unfortunately, despite his calls, she let out a sigh, as if in realization, before turning around and walking towards the nearest of the two sofas in the room.

"What the...? Hey, wait! Didn't you just see me?!" he shouted after her, placing his face against the glass. "No, no, I saw you react to my direction! And then you just walk away as if I'm not there?! What kind of person does... does... that..."

As he was looking around animatedly, he had spotted the tail of his poncho flapping in the wind.

...The wind...

"...Unless... you thought it was the wind..." the invisible sprite realized meekly, before planting his forehead against the glass, letting frost spread across it. "_Aaaurgh..._"

Peering through his eyelashes, Frost spotted the door on the other side of the chamber.

"...How much you wanna bet that door's locked?"

* * *

"Yep. Locked."

Letting out another aggravated sigh, the ancient youth's arms slacked away from the doorknob, once again having been denied an audience with the little princess. He then pressed his forehead against the wooden door, standing there with a deadpan glare towards the obstruction in his path.

"...Alright, I'm not gonna get anywhere like this," he sighed, stepping away from the library door, and crossing his arms in front of him. "Only way I'm gonna get through to her is patience. That's what you said you were gonna do yesterday, Jack. Try for patience."

Backtracking to the wall behind him, he leaned back to rest against it, crossing his right leg over his left as he stood back and waited.

"No more putting this off. I'm gonna stay right here, until somebody opens the door for me," the invisible youth affirmed resolutely. "Nope. Not movin' from this spot, until Elsa comes out. Yep. Stayin' right here."

...A minute had passed...

...Three...

...Five...

Frost felt his right eye twitch.

"...Maybe... I can take a look around the castle while I wait?..."

* * *

_Okay, so, little fun fact from me to you._

_Patience is a virtue._

_A virtue, that I, unfortunately, did not have those days._

_I mean, that's not to say I didn't get it later on... at great cost... **But!** But, I was still pretty naive for a hundred-year-old-unbeknownst-to-me winter spirit!_

_So, to that end, I ended up exploring the castle for a bit. I went in to the portrait room, a hall full of intricate paintings that could only have been commissioned by some of the greatest artists of that time. And there were more in the hallways._

_I slid down the railings of the stairs, echoing out loudly at the grand corridors._

_I didn't go to the Grand Hall, where the accident happened._

_I did stumble upon the dining room, whereas then I followed the succulent, savory scent of food into the kitchens. Turns out, they were making chocolate that day. And I **maaay** have snuck a couple of pieces out with me when I got out._

_Anyway, I had seen enough of the interior - the parts where I could get in by myself, that is - and figured I'd go back to library's door now that I had sufficiently entertained myself. Having chocolate to keep me company wasn't bad either. _

_I made my way back to where I had left the princess, ready to wait for the moment the doors could open, and my work could begin._

_The door was open..._

* * *

The princess wasn't inside.

Mouth full of chocolaty sweets, Jack's eyebrows shot up past his bangs as he darted inside the chamber, looking around for a head of platinum blonde hair.

"_Whhere'd sheh gho?!_" Frost blurted out, or as close as he could with a mouth full of sweets in his mouth, before swallowing the chewed bits in one big gulp. "Where'd she go?!"

Looking over both shoulders, the room was not necessarily empty, the King and Queen both looking over a book at the lone table in the room. Regardless, their daughter was not among them. She probably would have stayed in that room for as long as she could so long as her parents didn't come to collect her, but they had, in a sense.

There'd only be one reason why they'd send her out, Jack deduced. Which meant...

"_Her room!_" he cried out, before practically sprinting out of the castle's library.

Roughly shoving the leftover handful of chocolate into his mouth, Frost's footsteps sounded out through the vacant hallway as he raced for Princess Elsa's door. He would have flown, but there was no open windows for him to summon wind out of. He even tried, and they all simply impacted futilely against the locked windows. So for that moment, running was the order of the day.

It didn't matter, however. The Snow Princess' quarters were not far from where the library was. And sure enough, as he rounded the next corner, running past walls with wallpapers of red designs, the winter sprite came across Elsa approaching her new room.

"_Elsha!_" he cried out in giddy relief, before groaning at the fact that there was food in his mouth. Curse his sweet tooth. Taking large bites out of the chock-full, Jack then let out a big gulp, before letting out a relieved sigh. "_Finally!_ I've been trying to meet with you all day! You might not know me, but I- _AH!_"

Letting out a sharp inhale of breath, Jack Frost felt that singular absence of self as something small had run through him. Lurching forward slightly, he saw that Anna had been the one to run out from under him, likely eager to meet up with her sister, having been forced away from her all day.

Looking up, the boy spotted the expression on the older sister's face was an amalgamation of several conflict emotions, most of which were negative. The positives still stood out though. Longing, relief, and love. However, they were only there for the briefest of flickers. After that, her eyes were consumed by fear, anxiety, and reluctance. The sisters' eyes meeting with each other was only brief, before Elsa looked inside her new room, and closed the door behind her.

Finally getting over his chill, Jack finally decided to move, running for the closing door. To his dismay, it had closed just as he reached it, the frost sprite having to restrain himself from slamming his free fist against the wood. Letting out a frustrated groan at having once again be denied an audience with Princess Elsa, Jack slumped against the door frame, his back touching the wood as he slightly slid along it.

Letting a harsh exhale out of his nostrils, the boy looked back at the other newcomer, and immediately froze. The young Princess Anna was looking in his direction, though he already knew she wasn't looking at him, since she had already gone through him a moment before. Her eyes, however, tugged at his heartstrings. Her bright blue eyes gave off waves of confusion, hurt, but overall, sadness. Withering down from where she stood, Anna slowly turned around, and walked down the hall she came from in both disappointment and defeat.

Feeling his own expression falling from the sight of her, Jack could only let out a breath through his nose, watching her return to her room with miserable sympathy. He hated this, watching other people be miserable. He himself had been miserable for the past hundred years, and knew that he would not wish such a terrible feeling upon anybody. More so these two, who now had no choice but to be alone.

Narrowing his eyes once more with firm determination, Jack drew himself up from the closed door, giving the retreating redheaded princess a final glance. "I will keep my promise to you, Princess. As soon as I help your sister, I'll make sure the first thing you guys do is play together again."

Nodding to himself, he took another few steps forward before spinning around to face Elsa's door again.

"Alright, no more putting this off. No more getting distracted, or going around to goof off. I'm staying right here, until the king and queen come get you. Then, I'll be able to help you out for real."

Frost shook his arms roughly, rolling his shoulders to well up his courage and vigor.

"...I'm not goin' anywhere, Princess."

* * *

_No, this time around, I stuck it out like a champ._

_While I didn't exactly stay rooted to the same spot, I made sure never to leave the front of her door. Though I did pace around after a while, even going so far as to lay down on the floor, I didn't leave to go anywhere else. _

_Again, I was pretty young around this time, and naive... you know, for a hundred-something winter immortal. But that first day could be considered as my first day of... 'growing up,' you might say. Or at least growing out of it._

_Or at least... all the growing up I did with the sisters of Arendelle._

_By the time I managed to get inside, I was still on the floor, thinking over some of what happened that day..._

* * *

"...I should've made all those servants get into a snowball fight," Jack mused as he rested his head on his arms as pillows, his legs resting along the intricately-painted white door, his staff behind his noggin.

When he had first returned from his earlier exploration of the castle, it was already afternoon. Now, though, it was already nighttime, meaning that it was likely almost time for the girls to go to sleep.

So, in order to pass the time, as well as remain in the vicinity should someone open the door, he just did what he always did when there wasn't anyone around to have fun with: he thought to himself.

...Out loud.

"...Maybe one day. When it's in season," he sighed with a grin. "Yeah. And then everyone can get in on the fun. The princesses, their parents. The workers, maybe even some of the people in town... and me. One big snowball fight. A big winter bash..."

The invisible youth was just about to picture it in his head, but he froze when an approaching sound came across his hearing. Footsteps... coming from where Anna had gone hours earlier.

Letting his legs fall to the left, Jack pushed himself up to a seated position as he eyed who it was that was rounding the corner.

Frost's frostbitten brows shot past his bangs when he saw that it was none other than the King and Queen of Arendelle.

His breath hitching, Jack quickly got on all fours, and practically shoved himself off the floor to get on his feet. Heart beating with adrenaline, the boy hopped on the balls of his bare feet, bringing his hooked crook closer to his chest as he watched King Agnarr knock on the door of his daughter's room.

"Elsa, it's Papa," he announced, though not too loud due to the time of night. "Are you asleep, my dear?"

Jack himself actually went to door, pressing his left ear against it, mimicking the King's own posture. Both said nothing, nor heard anything from the other side as they leaned against ornate doorway.

After another minute or so, a small voice called out from the other side. "No, Papa. I'm awake."

Jack jerked away from the door, shock forming itself on his features. Was this going it be it? The moment he had been waiting for - somewhat impatiently - for the whole day? Was he _finally_ going to get an audience with Princess Elsa?

The King spoke back to his daughter, as if in response to his thoughts. "Mama and I are coming in," he announced, taking out a key out of his pocket.

Frost threw his arms up in triumph "_YES!_ We're finally gonna do this!"

"To tuck you in before you go to bed."

At this, Jack's exultation immediately died down, his arms falling halfway to his chest. "Wait... What?"

Agnarr had already placed the key into its socket, twisting it until a small *_click_* was heard, before he removed it, and reached for the door's handle with his other hand. Turning the knob over, Frost watched as Elsa's door had opened for the second time that day, or at least as far as he knew. The king and his queen both stood side by side in the doorway, but didn't go immediately inside. They were likely looking at their daughter from wherever she was inside.

Snapping out of his earlier confusion of Agnarr's remark, Jack Frost quickly shook his head, and stumbled after them, making sure that he was right behind them as he entered, before skipping to the side just as the king gently closed the door behind him.

Finally letting out a sigh of relief, the winter sprite took in the surroundings of the room he had been trying to enter all day. The Snow Princess' room was not as big as the one she used to share with her sister, which meant that this room was probably meant for guests at one point. The colors of the wall were light purple, with a white border running the perimeter of the room. It certainly contrasted with the bright pink wallpaper she used to have in her old room. Looking back to where he came, Jack saw that two lamps were positioned on both sides of the entryway. Turning back towards the room at large, he saw the centerpiece. With two large chairs placed on either sides, a grand triangular window, which consisted of many rhombus-shaped outlines, loomed over the room, illuminating the room with the light from the outside. Below that was a pink cushion bench below it, where people could sit, or watch out the window, a round carpet a of purple crocus and rosamaling designs before it.

It was just like the one Elsa shared with her sister, back when they shared the same room. Now... it was just a window into a world she was no longer allowed to be in. Same for the one in their old room for Anna.

Turning away from both the window and those thoughts, the invisible boy looked to the other side. In it was a dress divider, like in Anna's room, as well as a double-door closet for her clothes and other belongings.

Finally getting a good idea of the room's structure, he finally brought himself to gaze on the more populated area of the room, at least currently. Taking up a majority of that side's attention was a large, dark wood double bed with a canopy, which was the same one she had in her old room with Anna before it had been disassembled and moved. Beneath it was a large purple carpet with rosemaling and other designs, like the round one before the window, only this one went well underneath her bed. Beside the frame itself was a table with flowers on top of it, and then to the side of that high-backed chair. Across the bed on the side of the room with the large triangular window was a fireplace like the one in the Princess' old room, logs stacked neatly beside it.

And sitting at the head of the bed, partly covered in purple bed sheets, pink pillows of different shapes behind her, was Princess Elsa of Arendelle in her little blue sleeping gown.

Walking across the room, the winter sprite looked as the King and Queen sat on both sides of her bed, each with reassuring, relieved smiles on their face. There was not even one hint of fear in either of their eyes. This was their daughter, and they knew it. They had nothing to fear from her.

And yet, the little girl's soft, icy blues were still on the blanket covering her legs.

Jack approached the pink window seat, before twisting around to sit down on it. The girl was gonna turn in soon. All that effort - and lack of - to try to get in here, and he only managed to get in right when she was about to go to sleep.

Slowly running a hand down his face, Jack groaned to himself. Then his mind considered something. The girl had gone out to play with her sister the night before. Maybe if he stuck around, and managed to get her to see him, he could convince the princess to do so again tonight?

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind did it get shut down brutally. First of all, there was no guarantee she would be able to see him, at least tonight. Secondly, when she did that, she was doing it with her little sister; her best friend. He heavily doubted the princess would be willing to go on a play date with a total stranger. An invisible one, at that.

That would be... Yeah. Totally creepy.

And finally, all of that was _before_ the night had ended with her sister seriously hurt, and by means of her own powers, no less.

In short, Jack had missed his chance to help her out today.

"...I'm sorry, kiddo," he silently whispered, watching as her father, the king, was explaining to her his day, and how busy he had been before coming to see her.

Young Elsa hadn't said a thing, though, keeping her eyes forlornly on her sheets, gripping them tightly with her hands.

It was then that the frostbitten boy had noticed that Queen Iduna was holding something between her arms. It was a book, with some kind of childish illustration on the cover. A storybook, perhaps?

It turned out his hunch was right. "I brought your favorite book, my dear. Would you like me to read to you before you go to bed?" the Queen asked kindly, putting the book in her hands to show it to her daughter.

Elsa looked up from her stare to take in the sight of the book, before dipping her head again, shaking it. "No..."

At this, Iduna's smile had faltered somewhat. "A-are you sure? You always love it when I read you a story before bedtime."

The little girl shook her head again. "Not tonight, Mama..."

Even from where he sat, Frost understood why she had declined the reading. Back then, whenever she had read to her, it was only when she wasn't alone. When she was with Anna. Without her around, it wasn't the same.

He perked up, however, when she spoke up again. "Did... Did you read to Anna, Mama?"

She nodded. "Yes, I did."

"I bet she liked the story you read."

"She did."

The Snow Princess said nothing for another moment's breath.

"...Is she okay?"

Both parents perked up at this, before softening their expressions. After all, they knew exactly what she was referring to.

This time, it was her father who answered her, reaching out and stroking the little girl's hair. "Of course she is, my dear. The Trolls' magic worked. She's showing no signs of discomfort. They... They did it. She's fine."

"...But she doesn't remember her powers, though," Jack muttered aloud to no one in particular. He raised his right brow when Elsa said the same thing a second later.

"It's okay, though... It's for the best, like you said, Papa."

From where he sat, Jack could practically hear the king's heart sink at how the little girl had repeated his words. Like she actually believed them. Probably because she did.

"Yes, but... It's only temporary," Agnarr explained, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You know, that, don't you, Elsa?"

Closing her eyes softly, she nodded. "Yes, Papa..."

"Just until you can control your powers better. Then everything will go back to the way it was."

Jack sat up straighter from his seat, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at the girl in her bed. She looked as if she were about to answer him again, but her eyes had closed. Then her face scrunched up together, almost as if in pain, but not the physical kind. It was more emotional. Following that was a whimper, which then became a sob.

Her parents immediately stood to attention, both sitting closer to her, the Queen putting her own hand on her other shoulder to help her husband comfort their crying child.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" Queen Iduna inquired worriedly, running her hand down the girl's shoulder in hopeful reassurance.

"_I-I...!_" she sniffled, bringing her hands up to her eyed to wipe the tears away with the back of them. "I-I'm sorry, Mama! This is all my fault!"

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked further, bringing her right hand to Elsa's right shoulder, and her pressing her left one motherly against her left.

"Because I couldn't control my powers!" she cried, holding her hands out shakily before her. "Because of me... P-Papa had to send everyone away. If I hadn't lost control, they wouldn't have left! And Anna...!"

Her breath hitched, shaking her head roughly as rivulets soaked her small cheeks. "Anna, she... She was freezing... She was... If I hadn't...! I...!"

It was at this moment that Jack felt a nip in the air. Arching his eyebrow, he notice that there were sparkly blue particles beginning to surround the bed. A moment later, he realized that they looked rather familiar to him. The reason why dawned on him two seconds later.

Snowflakes. The girl was emitting _snowflakes._ And all while she was anxious.

"Oh boy..." he muttered worriedly.

Maybe the trolls _had_ been right to warn them the way they did...

But as quickly as it came, it left shortly after both parents brought their arms around her, embracing her warmly as they shifted closer to her. The king himself stroked her bangs tenderly, which in turn caused her lean against him as she cried her heart out. With this, the snowflakes disappeared, making Jack look taken aback. He'd never seen snow disappear so suddenly.

Regardless, Frost could only wonder how long this little girl had been holding in these tears; these feelings. In fact, he had never seen such sorrow in a little girl, and within such a short time of when this terrible outcome had started.

This girl must have possessed a very considerate, empathetic heart, which was a rare sight for him to see. Of course, that could be because he had not really bothered to stay around anyone for that long after they had gone through him.

A pang of guilt had gone through him again. Just how many people just like this princess with hearts as loving as hers did he brush off over his bitterness? It was all the more impactful when it came to how miserably little he had helped her out today. And that wasn't even mentioning how he had been with her sister.

The winter sprite continued listen as the sobbing Snow Princess removed herself from the safety of her father's chest. "And now... A-and now they'll all hate me, just like everyone else will!"

Terrified eyes met warm, reassuring ones as King Agnarr wiped her tears away with his hand. "They won't hate you, Elsa."

She sniffled. "But... B-but the trolls said...!"

"They said that it all depends on you, Elsa," the king reminded. "As long as you learn to control your powers, the people will have no reason to fear you. And neither will you."

"B-b what if I can't?!" the little princess cried, feeling the stinging behind her eyes again. "What if it becomes too hard to control?! I can always feel it! I can feel it when it becomes too strong!"

Whimpering, she brought her tiny hands to her chest, retreating back to the pillows along her headboard.

"...It'll be okay," the invisible youth reassured, clenching his crook with his right hand. "I'll help you out with that. Don't worry."

The queen and king had exchanged a look as they watched their daughter retreat in fear. Agnarr then looked away, putting a hand on his chin as a pensive expression. This in turn made Jack furrow his brows in curiosity.

The only sound was Elsa's soft whimpers, before the king spoke up. "Elsa... These powers are yours, and yours alone. They are only ever subject to _your_ desires. _Your_ will."

Sniffling, Arendelle's oldest princess wiped her nose with the back of her right sleeve. "Wha... What do you mean?"

"Your powers only ever answer to you," her father explained. "Therefore, they only ever do what you want them to do, Elsa. You control them."

"B-but I can't...!"

"You _will,_" he firmly added, putting his hand over both of hers. "You are still growing, Elsa. And with time, and experience, you will learn to master them. I meant what I said before. I fully believe you are capable of controlling them."

"You... Y-you do?" she wondered meekly, eyes widening in slight surprise.

"Of course I do," he eagerly answer.

"...But, but what if it's too strong for me?"

"Well... You control what your powers can do. And you always use feel it when it wants to come out, yes?

The blonde little girl sniffled again, rubbing her nose with her arm. "...Yes."

"So don't feel them."

Almost simultaneously, Jack Frost and Elsa snapped their heads towards the king, yet with different looks on their face. Frost's brows were furrowed, his blues looking alarmed and confused. Elsa herself looked lost as well... yet somewhat intrigued.

"Don't... feel them?" she repeated.

"Good, loving king-dad say _what,_ now?" Jack breathed out in disbelief.

"Your powers do not control you, Elsa. _You_ control _them,_" Agnarr further elaborated. "With that said, when you feel they are stronger than usual, by not feeling them - resisting them - you can... conceal them, perhaps."

The little princess dipped her chin down thoughtfully, before lifting it up to look back at the man. "I... can do that, Papa?"

He shrugged, smiling softly. "Maybe. You'd have to try it yourself, and tell me how it goes."

"...Conceal... by not feeling?"

"That's right."

Letting out a groan, Jack shook his head. "That's _not_ gonna work! Trust me, it's happened to me once before. Didn't work out so well."

He wasn't exactly forgiven by all of the parties involved, either... Though he only really cared for one party's opinion... if he could call it that. It was more like 'frightened.'

Still, he could only sigh as his words went ignored. After all, he didn't really have any proof that it wouldn't work for her, did he? Maybe he could turn out to be wrong.

But then there would be no need for him, then. And he wanted to be needed.

Suddenly, the room went silent when a small giggle escaped the little girl's lips. Frost wondered if it was the first one she had let out since the night before.

"You know, Papa... that rhymes," she observed.

"What does?" her father inquired.

"Conceal. Don't feel," she answered.

"...Oh, you're right!" the king nodded, chuckling himself at having realized it just now. "I hadn't noticed!"

"Elsa's always been a smart girl, dear. Such things don't escape her notice," Queen Iduna spoke up, having refrained from speaking so far throughout the exchange.

"Indeed," he agreed. "Is that helpful, Elsa? That it rhymes?"

The girl shrugged. "I guess."

The king's smile dropped somewhat, eyes carefully studying his child. "However... you do understand that it is only for when you feel it is too strong, yes?" he clarified. "It's just a technique to help you to control it."

Elsa briefly looked away from her father, and then turned her eyes back to her hands clenching the covers of her bed. "...Right."

A hand lifted up her chin to look at her father, who then moved it to her right cheek to caress it tenderly.

"I meant what I said before," the King of Arendelle whispered. "This is only meant to be temporary... In truth, I don't even know if what I'm doing here is right, keeping you and your sister apart. I wish this could all be avoided, in truth. Even so, in light of the troll's words, I have to do all that I can to protect you. All of you. That is my responsibility both as the king, and as your father."

"I understand, Papa."

It seemed that the little girl was not the only one who had been startled by Pabbie's prophecy, Jack surmised. He'd had his suspicions, but only now were they being confirmed by the king himself.

Agnarr's expression then softened from his previous grave one. "Regardless of all of that... know that I personally cannot see anyone more capable of carrying out this responsibility than you, my daughter. You have always been smart, capable, daring, kind, and loving. And this setback will not stop you. You will learn to control these powers, Elsa. I truly believe that. You will see yourself through this." He gently caressed her shoulder. "And when there are times when you find yourself unable, or alone... know that you can lean on your mother and I to help steer you true."

The words coming from Agnarr radiated nothing short of love and belief. The invisible youth could practically feel it. He knows this, because he has wished for somebody to talk to him like that for the past hundred years. Indeed, their effects were so visibly clear, the girl was lighting up now, practically glowing in contrast to how miserable she was when they had all first walked in.

"You... really think I can do it, Papa?" she asked wonderingly.

"Of course I do. I believe in you," he affirmed with a smile.

It was infectious, it seemed, for the Snow Princess was now smiling herself. Looking away bashfully for a brief moment, she then lunged forward, wrapping her arms around her father with a big hug.

"Thank you..." she whispered shakily, yet earnestly, a small tear running down her left cheek.

Elsa felt her father's hands wrap around her back and the back of her head. A moment later, she felt more comfort from behind her. The queen had embraced her with a hug of her own.

"And know that no matter what may come, we will always love you, Elsa. That will _never_ change, my little snow."

Jack, who had mostly been silent save for his few remarks, could only smile at what he was watching. While he didn't agree with the fact that there had to be an isolation, he found some relief in that the monarchs were of similar beliefs to his own. However, out of duty to themselves and their kingdom, they would go through with it. Still, the fact that they were confident in their daughter made it all the more bearable. They only did it because they believed little Elsa could pull through.

Which seemed to make her believe that she could do this, too.

Yet, despite how happy he was to see that the little girl would have her parents' support, Jack couldn't help but feel a pang of longing at their shared embrace. A family, coming together to comfort one another, even in trying times. A hug that could take away all the fears away. A promise that everything would be alright.

It was something that had been long been denied to him for as long as he had been Jack Frost. And not for the first time, he wondered if he would ever have something close to that.

A family.

* * *

_After that, Elsa was in a better mood, and actually asked her mom if she could read her a bedtime story. She gladly complied._

_After the story was over, the queen then sang Elsa to sleep with her lullaby... And, hehe... It worked a little **too** well. __I say that because **I** also fell asleep from it. _

_Gotta hand it to Elsa's mom, she must've worked some kind of magic into that lullaby._

_...Then again, maybe I was just too tired. Thing about a guy like me, I hardly ever sleep. Don't really need to. Same goes for eating. But when ever I do sleep, I only have the **best** dreams. Most of which involve me being around people that can see me._

_'Course... I also get some strange ones._

* * *

_Silent Night..._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Holy Night..._

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Sleep in Heavenly Peace..._

* * *

The frost sprite's eyes opened when a door's *_click_* emanated throughout the room. Blinking rapidly, Jack realized that he had slunk back into the back cushion of the window seat, lounging rather awkwardly for anyone other than him.

Cricking his neck, Frost blearily looked around the room. Hearing distant footsteps from outside Elsa's door, he realized that the King and Queen had just left for the night.

Looking to the right, he saw that the princess was already fast asleep, nestled deeply into the cushions behind her. And if that had not been enough proof, the Dreamsand floating above her was.

Letting out a groan, he ran his fingers between the bridge of his nose. The girl was asleep. And he never bothered kids when they were sleeping. After all, would he like it if somebody woke them up from a good nap? No, sir.

Sighing heavily, he planted his free hand on his knee, his other clutching shepherd's crook tightly to hoist himself onto his feet. When he did, Jack crossed the room tiredly, looking to open the door softly, so as not to disturb the princess' slumber.

It once again occurred to him just how badly he had missed out today, failing the little girl.

Taking one last look over his shoulder, Jack's eyes went to her sleeping figure, but paused at the Dreamsand playing above her.

Turning around, he walked over to her side of the bed, before crouching to meet her face. Glancing up, the youthful ancient saw that the dream she was having was the same one he had seen her have the previous night. It was of her and Anna playing around in the snow, building that little ugly snowman of theirs; Olaf, he recalled. Just the two of them together, having fun, being inseparable.

A flicker of light caught his attention, and Jack looked back down to her face, only to have his own fall a second later.

A tear had rolled down her cheek, even though a smile graced her sleeping features.

It was then that the winter sprite understood. Elsa knew she would be separated from Anna, agreeing to try to control her powers. Yet in spite of that, she would only find peace in her sleep. For in her dreams, she had never hurt her sister. They were still together.

Elsa could only have Anna in her dreams.

Frowning softly yet tenderly, Jack slowly reached out to her cheek, before wiping the tear away.

Such was another aspect of his curse. When people were awake, no one could see him, and he could not touch them. But when they were asleep, he _could_ touch them. Despite this, however, he only made a point to make use of this when it was absolutely needed, like when people were trapped in snowstorms, or other some such perilous positions. He would help them out, and the next day they would wonder what or who helped them.

Just another case of something or someone else getting credit for his deeds.

"I'm sorry I let you down today, kiddo," he whispered apologetically, before making to stand, and approaching the door to leave.

But before he twisted the knob, he glance back to her, his eyes furrowing determinedly.

"But I promise... I _will_ make this right. I'll get you and your sister together again."

And with that, he opened the door, and softly closed it behind him. Jack Frost then found the nearest window, opened it, and flew off into the night.

The real work would begin tomorrow.

* * *

**CHAPTER 4 END**

* * *

**AN: Hey guys! Back at it again with another chapter. Kinda wanted to have this out before the official trailer for Frozen II released. but this chapter took me longer to make.**

**I hope that I was able to capture the characters personalities in this chapter, especially the King and Queen. There is very little we actually know from them, and it seems like Frozen II might change that. Until then, however, I hope my interpretation is so far true to canon.**

**From what little we know, and what canon supports, the King and Queen actually had full faith in Elsa learning to master her powers. They wanted to reach out to her, but Elsa's fear stopped her from reaching out to them. I don't want my take to be one where they're abusive, or whatever, even though isolating her from the world. They are supporting loving parents.**

**They will not be the reason Elsa further shuts herself off. At least, not the instigators. I already have an idea for that.**

**Now time to address some things with things now that some Frozen II info is out. **

**It seems very likely, if if not 100% confirmed, that the reason for Elsa having her powers will be revealed in the sequel, which may very well contradict what I have put up here. If that does indeed happen, I may very well have to tweak the Prologue to suit what is revealed to us. It won't be much skin off my back, but I still have to prepare for it.**

**Also, I already have a plotline in store ready for the sequel to this story. I even have a full title for it.**

**"The Snowflake II: Light of the Stars."**

**Let me just say this... Jack Frost is gonna be put through the ringer just as much as Frohana's gonna be put through the ringer... if not a bit more so. Look forward to it.**

**Next chapter will be the moment you guys have been waiting for (aside from the Coronation, of course.) Jack Frost and Elsa will finally meet next chapter.**

**Will it be how you guys expect it to be?... Guess you'll have to wait and see.**

**Thank you all again so much for supporting and reading this story. Drop a review and let me know what you guys think, if you can.**

**And remember...**

**READ & REVIEW!**

* * *

**Next Chapter: To conceal and not feel... or to believe... even though it's totally by accident?**


	6. Chapter 5: Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

_"Singing"_

_"Sing" - "Siiing"_

***(Song Title - Source/Artist)***

**DISCLAIMER: This chapter contains an excerpt of a song that I do not own, and belongs to Disney. **

**REPEAT: I DO NOT OWN THE SONG OR THE EXCERPT IN THIS CHAPTER. THE SONG IS OWNED AND WAS CREATED BY DISNEY.**

**AN: THE NEW COVER ART IS BY NONE OTHER THAN JOMAKESART, AKA THE GREAT HOTCUPPAHJO! CHECK OUT HER TUMBLR, INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER WHEN YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!**

* * *

***~*~*~ _Chapter Five:_ Do You Wanna Build a Snowman? ~*~*~***

* * *

At 8 years old, one of the many pastimes of Princess Elsa of Arendelle was to simply stare out of the castle through her window.

True, she had her usual share of amusements that were expected of a child: toys, games, crafts, and others. And most often, that would be enough for any other little girl.

But Elsa wasn't just any other little girl. She was a little girl who was used to playing with her little sister... Only now she couldn't.

And it was all her fault.

So how, then, did a princess who had no other recourse than to stay in her room for the safety of herself, her sister, and her kingdom, entertain herself? By looking out her window forlornly into the world that she so desperately wanted to see deep down in her heart, but knew she couldn't. Knew she _wouldn't,_ no matter how much she wanted.

...However, when even that got boring, she would doodle. And while she did have the means to get paper and draw, she had a different way that was exclusive only to herself.

She would imprint frost on the glass pane by pressing her hands against it, allowing her powers - the storm within her - to manifest itself. Her father, the king, had wanted her to learn to control her powers, and Elsa knew she had to in order to not hurt Anna, or anyone, with them ever again. She figured that frosting the window ever so slightly was good practice.

Anything to avoid another accident. _Especially_ avoiding another accident involving Anna.

The streak was a painful enough reminder.

The princess had already drawn several shapes on the window. Mostly just shapes like rectangles, rhombuses, and other intricate shapes. She simply had an affinity for shapes, she found. No doubt it was for this reason that she excelled at their tutor's geometry lessons.

Reaching out with her tiny hand, young Elsa frosted the pane over again, effectively removing the doodles already there with her own magic, leaving an imprint of the snowflake she always managed to create when she used her magic. The Princess didn't know why this one always appeared whenever she unleashed the storm, only that it had always been there since she could remember. She never saw it outside when the snow came, so she figured it was her magic that brought it about.

In a sense, it was hers. And it followed her wherever she went.

Today, however... proved to be one of her different days.

She didn't take her eyes off the iced window, pondering what she could make next. Resting her chin on the windowsill, her arms crossed in front of her mouth, the Snow Princess' eyes widened softly in alarm at what was suddenly occurring before her.

As she had been mulling over what to draw next, little Elsa saw that already, in front of her very blue eyes, no less, something was writing over the frost.

Something she couldn't see.

Transfixed by the odd sight before her, the little princess could only watch as the drawing was being sketched on her window. The first line had been a simple curve, which then went on to trace the number 3. It then followed with a mirror opposite of it. After that, the mysterious presence drew two curves lines in the middle, followed by two small little lines on top.

Even as this presence drew little circles on the wings, Elsa immediately knew what this picture was of: a butterfly.

Already, she had been startled by this occurrence, as anybody in her position would. After all, only people could make drawings on frost, and they certainly didn't appear out of thin air. Fear was already beginning to wrap itself around the girl's little heart.

But then, as if all of what she was experiencing wasn't incredulous enough, the next thing that happened twisted her perception most assuredly.

The drawing began to move.

"What?..." she whispered to herself, which sounded an awful lot like a squeak.

Indeed, the once-flat doodle began shifting, becoming more solid and animated. It was almost as if a real butterfly were leaving its cocoon for the first time, and it was unfurling before Princess Elsa's eyes. As if popping out of the picture itself, the butterfly came to life flapping its wings as it hovered towards the frightened princess.

"What? B-but how...?!" she whimpered, turning her head away from it as the apparition calmly approached her.

This made no sense. There was no way this thing could possibly have been made before her. And even at so young an age, Elsa always strode to make things make sense. Whether it was logic, or some kind of magic, there had to be a reason for it. At first glance, there was no sure explanation for it. A natural one.

But upon a second glance, she noticed something that she really should have caught before.

Ice.

The butterfly was made of _ice._

Which could mean only one thing.

"_I'm..._ doing this?" Elsa murmured in surprise, the fear present from before growing rapidly now.

This was _her._

No. The _storm_ was doing this.

It started snowing inside her room.

The storm was doing this. _Not_ her.

_She wasn't controlling it!_

"_NO!_"

She tried swatting the icy butterfly away, but missed by millimetres. It seldom mattered, however, for she had already dashed for her bed, tears of panic already beginning to well up in her eyes.

"_MAMA! PAPAAA!_" the panicking princess screamed out in overbearing fright, climbing up to her bed, and curling up into a ball, her hands clutched tightly together to her chest. "_Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't...!_"

* * *

If Elsa Believed and could truly see, then she would see the winter sprite hanging upside down from the other side of her large window, watching her trembling form in aghast pain.

The drape of his shawl falling behind him, Jack Frost waved his staff in defeat to dismiss his little ice creation, which he had noticed had drooped quite a bit after the princess' rejection.

Just in time, it seemed, for both the King and Queen had bolted the door open, and ran towards their daughter, immediately embracing her, and assuring her that she was okay.

He didn't need to stay after to hear her recant what had happened - or what she _thought_ had happened, at least - nor did he need to see just how terrified they were to hear about what their daughter could apparently-but-also-not do. They tried to hide it from the little girl, true, but they couldn't hide it from him.

And it didn't make him feel good at all.

"...This... did _not_ go according to plan.._._"

Understatement of the century.

* * *

_So after my massive missed opportunity on my first day there, I was determined to not go for a repeat, and actually help the little princess. I gave my word to Pabbie, and I gave my word to the little girls. I couldn't afford to hold this off any longer._

_What followed afterwards involved me trying to get her attention the only way I knew how: using my own magic._

_...Here's something you need to know about Elsa. For her, she had to find a reason in everything. Her isolation. Her powers. Why snowflakes were always shaped different. Everything. Anything she didn't understand, she needed to. She almost yearned for wisdom. Whenever she couldn't find reason in something, it gave her anxiety. And almost always, her first instinct was to blame herself for her lack of knowledge._

_With that in mind, let's do a little thought problem real quick. No need for numbers, just inductive reasoning. **Mostly.**_

_You've got a little girl with powers of ice and snow, which she struggles to control. Then you've got several random occurrences of strange, unexplained happenings **involving** ice and snow. What sort of conclusion does the magical tyke make out of all of this?_

_The answer: she thinks **she's** the one doing it._

_Gotta say, at that point, I was pretty used to other people or things taking credit for my stuff; the wind, more often than not. And that was totally fine... Well, I mean, it **wasn't,** really, but no harm ever came of it. So what? Jack Frost was alone for a little while longer 'cuz nobody realized it was me doing all the fun stuff. No harm, no foul._

_This was **not** the case when it came to Elsa._

_Whenever I did my thing, and she reacted badly to it, it really hurt. Emotionally, that is. Instead of watching in wonder and having fun, she was wary and frightened. And that's just the immediate reactions. It's the impressions that I hadn't meant to leave behind that stuck with her for the longest. And there were too many to count and regret._

_But I'll give you one example that shows just how badly my attempts to reach out backfired: Conceal, don't feel._

_Now, recall King Agnarr hadn't really introduced it to little Elsa, so much as they both realized that the king had made it rhyme unintentionally, and they decided to adopt it from there. It wasn't meant to be the guideline for her life from then on, keeping her in fear whenever she didn't follow through with it. Quite the opposite, actually. It was meant to be a declaration of defiance. That whenever her powers started acting up, Elsa would use that to tell her powers 'Y'know what? I'm the captain of this ship, so we're gonna do what **I** wanna do, not what you wanna do!' Something like that._

_Then I came along... and pretty much ruined it._

_The worst part was the outbursts of her power that she was responsible for, which always popped out not too long after I made my presence known, figuratively speaking. The King and Queen would show up, calm their little girl down, and have their remaining servants clean up the mess._

_Anna, meanwhile, would be forced to stop whatever she was doing, and wait in her room until they were done._

_After the first couple of incidents, '**Conceal, don't feel**' had another meaning entirely. Eventually, it would become '**Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show.**'_

_I **hated** hearing those words whenever they came out Elsa's mouth, and my own reluctant role in making them come about._

_Just so I'm perfectly clear, here, I wasn't doing my shtick on a daily basis. **Oh-ho** no. If I'd done that, Elsa would've died of a heart attack at age 9. No, after she freaked out over my snow tricks, I had the decency to leave for the day. I'd come back the day after, but made sure to keep my magic to myself. I usually waited for an appropriate time. When she was by herself, mostly. _

_Then, I'd try again, only to fail. I'd wait a bit, and I tried again. Again, and again, **aaand** again... I failed every time._

_This went on for about two months before I decided to stop using the usual method altogether. That's plenty of feelings of frustrations and sadness on both our parts, and tears on hers._

_It certainly was... paralyzing. I mean, for the first time in for... No, not even **'forever.'** For the first time, **period,** I was self-conscious about using my powers. After all, I was used to just whipping it out in the open for all to see. Yet I found myself in a unique position, where using them wasn't gonna be enough. In fact, using them made it **worse.**_

_Not for the first time, I asked myself what I was doing wrong. I even asked the Moon, explained what I was doing for the princess, only to get no answers, as usual._

_It was certainly a rough patch. I mean, I couldn't use my powers, but then what else could I do? It wasn't like I could wave at her and shout out 'Hi! I'm Jack Frost, and I like warm hugs!'_

_So I had to use my powers, just not in the way I had been using them. I had to be smart about how I used them. Hence me being self-conscious of my powers._

_Before long, I got an idea. And the funny part was that the stroke of inspiration came from Anna._

_Now, I feel like I should take a step back here, and explain how life had changed for Anna since the isolation began... What? Don't look at me like that. I know I'm rambling, okay? Never said I was good at telling long stories. Most ones I usually tell are short, sweet, and straight to the point. Trust me, North criticizes me for it all the time._

_Thing is, this story's about the Princesses of Arendelle, the events surrounding them **as they happened**, and the role that I played in them. Nothing more, nothing less. W__hich means I gotta go over **all** the important aspects._

_And Anna, one of said princesses, was most **definitely** an important aspect._

_For Anna, life certainly changed after the isolation began. She couldn't be around Elsa, her best friend and sister, anymore, which meant she was without a playmate. No more hide and seek, riding their two-seat bikes, swinging in their swing, or any other bouts of mischief they were known for back in the day. And in a very big castle like theirs, it was tough to find something to do. Of course, it was easier when she was younger, but before long, the pang of loneliness caught up to her. Despite being able to do things by herself, she didn't want to do it by herself._

_She wanted to be with her sister. She wanted to **not** be alone._

_Unfortunately, the King's word still took more precedent over hers. After all, she was still a little girl. __So she put up with it, even when she didn't exactly know why._

_Anyway, my idea to help Elsa came to me one day when I was sitting around with Anna. We were in the Painting Gallery, and she was playing with some dolls. Me, on the other hand? I was just sitting there, not exactly watching her as I was thinking to myself. More specifically, about what to do next._

* * *

"_Booo-oy!_ What a nice day it is, out here! It's all snowy, and shiny, and fun!"

As Jack sat cross-legged on one of the couches of the painting gallery, thrumming the fingers of his right hand on his crook and the ones on his left on his chin, Anna was playing with two dolls in her hands, enacting a totally made up scene before her.

The toys in her hands were actually small dolls of Anna and Elsa that had been made for them. Both had little crowns on top of their heads, each with two long pigtails, and round black beads for eyes. The similarities, as were the norm with the sisters, ended there. The yarns that were their hair were colored after their respective hair colors, and the Anna doll's pigtails drooped downwards, while the Elsa doll's stood up. 'Anna's' dress was green, while her sister's was blue.

The little princess had placed the doll of her sister on top of the armrest on her side of the couch, while Anna's own plush was on the cushion below it. The reason why was all in the scene playing out in the little firebrand's head.

"Gee, there's so much I can do today! But it'll be hard to do everything by myself! Hmm..." She made the doll jolt up, as if she were doing so herself. "Oh, I know! I'll go check up on Elsa, and see if she wants to come out and play today!" The doll pivoted again and again toward the armrest, before stopping right below it. "Hey, Elsa! You wanna come out and play today?"

"_Oh, Anna, I **CAN'T!** I'm trapped in this horrible room, but I can't get out!_"

Frost let out a snort at her imitation.

"_WHAT?!_" she cried out in so artfully feigned alarm, it almost seemed real. "Is _that_ why you never come out?! You're _trapped?!_" Her face then narrowed in determination, her expression conveying what the doll's were supposed to be. "Well, don't you worry, Elsa! Help's on the way!"

Anna then had the doll shift left and right, hoping up and down, as if making something.

"Watcha doin' there, Freckles?" the invisible boy asked curiously, her own little play forcing him out of his planning session for the time being.

"I'm making a _huuuge_ snow hill!"

Jack instantly froze, his prior curious expression falling immediately into stunned alarm. He struggled to speak, mouth fumbling as the words tried to come out. "W-wait, you...? Heh, wait, uh... Y-y-you can... You can hear me-"

"Then I'll climb up to your window, open it, and then we can slide you outta there, Elsa! So sit tight!"

Jack's face fell again, though this time it was out of a familiar annoyance. "Oh... You weren't... You were... Your doll was talking. Talking to the Elsa... Yeah. I see now... Figures."

Slouching on his seat, the boy continued to play audience to the girl's little show, eyebrows raising as the doll was 'climbing' up the imaginary snowbank.

"Uh, you do realize you'd need snow shoes to climb that, Princess?" the boy lectured, once again resting his chin on his hand. "Otherwise you'd sink halfway or more. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd need a lotta snow to make that climb."

Was he sounding like a downer? Probably. But she couldn't hear him, so it was all good. Besides, she'd probably think up a funny argument against him. That is, if she heard him.

Which, of course... she didn't.

Mini-Anna had finally reached the top, it seemed, standing right in front of Mini-Elsa. "Alright, sis! We're gonna slide down the hill on this sled I brought with me! Ready?!"

Jack was pretty sure there hadn't been a sled on the little doll when she had climbed up the snowbank, but what did he know? It was child's play. Anything goes when it comes to child's play. Anna was having fun, so he really shouldn't have been complaining.

"_WHEEEEEE!_"

The dolls slid down along the armrest before finally landing back on the cushion. As soon as they did, Anna cheered out in joy.

"_YAAAAY! WE DID IT!_"

"**_HOORAY!_**" Mini-Elsa cheered. "_Thank you so much, Anna, for saving me from that lonely room! How can I ever make it up to you?_"

Anna dismissed her with a wave of her hand, playing her role. "Aw, it was nothin'. You don't owe me anything," she assured. The redheaded princess said nothing for a moment, before blurting out, "_...Buuuut,_ since we're already outside, and it's nice and snowing, do you wanna build a snowman?"

Another pause, which once again caused the winter sprite to arch an eyebrow. Of course, he nearly jolted fully in midair when she cheered again.

"**_OF COURSE I WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAN!_**"

"_YAAAY!_"

With that, Anna practically flew off the sofa, darting out of the chamber, too caught up in her imagined joy. She was probably gonna knock on Elsa's door again.

Jack hoped that Elsa would say yes, and go out to play like their imaginary selves would. Out in the snow. Though, there still wasn't snow outside. Not in season...

...Wait.

"Snow... Outside... Play outside... in the _snow!_ Of course! That's _it!_"

* * *

_I finally figured it out. _

_Elsa always panicked when it was snowing **inside.** _

_So all I had to do was get her **outside! **When it was snowing outside!_

_I finally had my plan of attack. Get her someplace where she can't blame herself for the snow around her. Besides, the memories the trolls put in Anna had them all playing in the snow before, right? And while Elsa didn't have her memories tampered with, she didn't need to use her magic to go out into the snow!_

_It was **perfect! **And simple!_

_All I had to do was make it snow the next day!_

_...'Cept I couldn't. __I didn't want to risk it. So I had to wait until it was in season._

_I know, I know! You're thinking **'Jack! You're the Spirit of Winter! Guardian of Fun! Bringer of Snow Days and Mischief! How can you NOT want to make an early snow day before it was time?! Before it was in season!'** And ordinarily, I'd be the first to jump on that bandwagon._

_Now, lemme be clear. The reason I didn't wanna risk starting an early winter wasn't because of Bunny. I wasn't really out to be on his good graces at the time, and this was **before** the Easter of '68. But again, I gotta reiterate: I was **young... **As young as I could be at the time, I mean. It was still early in my tenure as Jack Frost. And the thing about being young? There's a whole lotta room for lasting impressions._

_One of the first impressions I got? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned._

_Of course, that was **clearly** a misunderstanding that got settled later on, but we'll get to that point when I reach it. By then, though, I had a pretty clear idea of what would happen if I stepped outta line, so I wasn't gonna do anything to garner attention. The wrong kind of attention, at least._

_And trust me, she'd know it was me. She had eyes and ears **everywhere.**_

_So I had to wait. And wait I did. But it's not like I went away until winter. While I did go out to spread some snow days where the climate allowed it, trying and failing to get somebody else to see me, I made sure to frequent the sisters as often as I could._

_Every morning, the girls would wake up, get breakfast, and then have their lessons. Separately. Elsa would wake up earlier, and Anna would wake up later. Elsa would tidy up her room - what little of it needed tidying, anyway - and Anna would get reprimanded by how much stuff was cluttered in her space._

_And then, everyday after home schooling was done, Anna would go to her sister's door, knock on it, and ask if Elsa wanted to go out and play._

_Yet no matter how much she looked like she wanted to, Elsa would always say no._

_And that's how it went every time I stopped by. Like clockwork._

_Elsa would still have accidents. And Anna would still play with her toys, and games, but it she could only do it by herself._

_It was a rather... sad sight. I was so mad at myself, because I could help them. I desperately wanted to change things for the better. If only I could get Elsa to see me..._

_But my fear got the better of me back then. As did Elsa's._

_Fortunately, winter was coming, and with it, my chance to make a difference. And the closer it got, the more I thought about what I would do once I got her outside, as well as how I would introduce myself._

_One thing in particular, above all else, got my attention. Something that I had overheard the maids whisper and mention, and had it confirmed whilst overhearing King Agnarr and Queen Iduna. I knew exactly when to make my move._

_Elsa's 9th birthday. The Winter Solstice._

* * *

"_Oooh, so close!_" Jack Frost whooped as he dove to the side whilst in downtown Arendelle proper, the village already covered in a healthy blanket of snow. "Gonna have to be slicker than that, kiddo!"

Currently, the wintry lad found himself in the middle of a large snowball fight he had started an hour ago. A group of kids had been out when he had arrived, making snowmen, riding sleds, making snow angels; the usual. But none of them had gotten into a snowball fight yet! And when he got there, they were already packing it in, ready to head inside.

As a winter sprite who liked to have fun, well... he figured that simply wouldn't do!

Scooping up some snow from the ground, he clamped it together, shaping it into snowball, before letting out a breath of concentration, and blowing wintry mist into it. The projectile began to sparkle with a magical blue hue, right before Jack tossed it upwards to test its weight, and heaving it towards the nearest tyke.

From there, it was like dominoes falling into place. That one kid had thought one of the others hit him, which prompted him to toss one to their face. Then another, and another as they threw some that missed, hitting other unsuspecting victims, who decided to get in on the fun. He even had to use his magic again on one adult, who had looked ready to reprimand the children for their antics. But then Jack Frost came along, and before the man knew it, he was throwing snowballs along with them, encouraging others to do the same.

A full out snowball war was happening right in Downtown Arendelle, and it was all thanks to Jack Frost. There was fun to be had, memories to make, and games to play. Because of him, and his unique, enjoyable magic, everyone was having fun. And so was he.

...At least, he _had._

Somewhere in between, a girl had gone through him as he readied a snowball for somebody else, his rush of exhilaration dying out then and there. The snowball slipping from his fingers illustrated that miserably.

The usual annoyance and disappointment, however, went away when his eyes glanced over to the clock tower standing tall over the rooftops of the village. According to the time, the princesses had already gotten out of their lessons for the day.

His wide smile returning fully, he waved at all of the unsuspecting snowball fighters. "Hate to leave you guys while things are getting good, but I've got a party to crash!" With that, he spun his staff in his left hand, before waving it around in front of him to summon the wind. "_You kids have fun, now!_"

The gusts of the Norwegian winds sent Jack soaring to the air with a laugh, propelling him over to his brand new stomping grounds of Arendelle Castle.

Finding his usual entry window on the right side of the castle, located high on the top floors and unlocked - because, of course, no one was capable of possibly entering through there - Frost lighted on the carpet, feeling it fully beneath his toes before casually striding down the hallways like he owned the place.

"Alright, whose ready to have ourselves a little part-tay?!" he cheered grandly, his voice echoing sown the hall, pointing finger guns at nobody in particular. "C'mon, guys, it's the princess' birthday!"

Strutting down the corridor, Frost grinned as he came across Elsa's door, the frame painted with blue flower designs, as well as on the panels.

Feeling particularly cheeky today, Jack went ahead and did something he does on occasion: knocking. His pattern was two taps, followed by five quick ones in succession.

"_Goooood_ mornin', birthday girl! Hope you're having a wonderful day!" Frost greeted with a wave, despite the fact she could not see him due to the door being closed. "Now, don't be alarmed! I know you might not know my voice, so let me change that! My name's Jack Frost, traveler extraordinaire, and I'm here to present you with my gift!"

"If you look outside your window, you'll see that it's snowing outside! Though usually you can chalk this up to the season, this fine, crisp blanket of snow was put there by yours truly! How, you might ask? Well..." Leaning his right shoulder against her door, he then raised his right hand conspiratorially, covering his mouth with his forehand, "I'll let you in on a little secret, kiddo... You ain't the only one with ice magic!"

"That's right! Frost isn't just my name, but what I do!" he announced as he hopped back away from from the door. "I bring snow days, snowballs, and fun times, which I've done for all of Arendelle! Been at this gig for years, so I'm practically a pro!"

He raised his hand to point at the door. "And it seems to me, Your Highness, that you could seriously use a pro right now. Hence this winter I've brought to you on your birthday! So why don't you grab your coat, gets some skates, and head on outside so I can show you some new tricks!"

"And don't worry about Anna," Jack reassured with a placating hand. "It's snowing outside, so she won't know that you're out using your magic out in the open. She'll think it's the weather! It's _perfect!_"

"So whaddya say, kiddo? Who's ready to have a fun birthday they'll never forget?!"

His voice echoed throughout the hallway, which hollowed out after a few seconds. And yet, the silence was even longer than that, as the Crown Princess hadn't responded to his entire introduction.

After a whole minute, Jack's jubilant smile started to fall, his brows furrowing in curiosity. "Uh... Princess?"

He then ducked down to the floor, peering through the gap bellow her door.

"Elsa?" he called as his right eye scanned through what he could see of her room. "_Hellooo?_"

Hopping back to a squat, Jack rolled his staff in his hand, the other on his chin as he thought.

He then snapped his finger in understanding. "They're probably getting her ready to give her her presents downstairs!"

Jumping back to his feet, the invisible young man darted down the hall to the stairs, sliding down the banister to the very bottom, his shawl and vest trailing behind him. He then proceeded on towards the main hall, which was when he started to notice something about his surroundings.

"Y'know... For it to be the Princess' birthday, the place isn't looking too... _festive,_" he murmured, noticing the distinct lack of balloons, decorations, or any other such things one would have out for a celebration.

Then, as if on cue, King Agnarr and his head butler Kai walked out of the door to one of the rooms, making their way towards Jack, who stood at the base of the stairs.

"Hey, Your Majesty? Where's all the fun birthday stuff?!" Jack demanded, before narrowing his eyes. "Or is that another thing that went away with the isolation?"

Agnarr said nothing to him, being just like everyone else that couldn't see him. Letting out another groan, Jack Frost trudged after the King and his servant, following them as far as the library before any mention of Elsa's birthday was made.

"Elsa is in her chamber, yes?"

"Yes, sire. Gerda escorted her there herself, before tending to Princess Anna."

"Good," the king sighed with a nod. "...So the preparations have been made, then? It's all ready?"

"Indeed, sire. Rather quickly, I might add," Kai confirmed, arms behind his back as the king read some papers over one of the desks. "Though perhaps that can be attributed to recent events... It is rather bittersweet, if I do say so."

"Indeed. Still, as necessary as this measure was, I will not rob my daughter of the right to celebrate her own life," Arendelle's king vowed. "We had already planned in advance what we would do for her this year. Get her favorite foods, which gifts to give. We'll spread it out through these next few days until Christmas at a pace that's not too grand or rushed for her." The king paused, smiling softly, "Just like she's always asked for."

"I see. So it be it, my king. It shall be done."

Jack's eyes widened in surprise. "_Oooooh._ So it's not much of a birth _day_ but a birth _week..._ kinda?"

There'd been several times in his existence where he'd seen something like that. Mostly from royals, and rich, wealthy families, but he really didn't mind. So long as no one else got hurt, it was fine by him. And hey, it was all in good fun, after all.

"In that case, I gotta recommend some things to do!" he cut in. "There's this thing people do on the other side of the world, see. Really fun! They get this huge doll, and beat it with a bunch of sticks. Then candy comes out, and-!"

"We'll begin tomorrow on the morn, then, sire. Starting with her own birthday, and the days following after."

"Very good, Kai."

At that, Jack froze, hands stopping their imitation of whacking a piñata as the words sunk in.

"Wait... Isn't her birthday _today?!_"

* * *

_So... I made a mistake._

_Turns out, the Winter Solstice in Arendelle, and all of Norway, is on December 22nd._

_I'd made it snow on the Winter Solstice in Burgess Virginia, USA... which is on December 21st._

_I made it snow the day **before** her birthday._

_I'd always heard them refer to Elsa's birthday as the Winter Solstice, so I never overheard the date. And I didn't have a clue as to the whole time zone thing, either._

_So. Yeah..._

**_...Oops._**

* * *

TAP-TAP. TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP.

"Hey, uh, Princess?" Frost called out from the hallway, standing before Elsa's door once again, looking sheepishly embarrassed. "It's me. Jack Frost? Guy who's here to help you with your powers? Me again. So... I, uh, I did a thing. I thought that... that, well, your birthday was _today,_ but it turns out it's actually _tomorrow._ So... Yeah. I made it snow a little early, hehe... My bad."

No response.

"Anyway it's okay! It's okay. We'll just count this a, em... An early birthday present! Yeah! Totally!" he recovered, putting aside his mistake with a casual dismissive wave of his hand. "It's never too early to have a little bit of fun, I always say. We've still got time to go out in the snow today. Maybe bring your sister, too, huh? Just lemme know when you're ready to go, and we'll head on out!"

Despite how friendly and reassuring he sounded, Elsa still didn't answer him.

Pursing his lips, he then squatted down to the doorsill. "Are you even in here, kiddo?"

* * *

***(Do You Wanna Build A Snowman - Katie Lopez - Disney's Frozen Original Soundtrack)***

* * *

A small gasp from down the hallway then made him lift his head up. Darting back up, he then hopped over to the corner, looking further down the corridor. There, marveling at all the snowy landscape beyond the window was little Princess Anna, mouth agape with wonder.

Smirking, Jack leaned against the corner wall. "Heya, Freckles. School just get out?"

Anna quickly spun and darted towards him, just short of going through him as she rounded the corner past him. Not a word in his direction came from her. But he was used to that. And besides, hopefully she'd get to see him soon after he got Elsa to do so.

But before that...

"Is it that time of the day already?"

Following after her, Jack leaned casually against the wall to Anna and the door's right, right hand shoved in his pocket as the redhead raised her hand to knock on her sister's door.

Just as she did every day, after lessons were done for the day.

"Elsa?"

TAP. TAP-TAP-TAP.

Holding her hands to her front Anna asked, _"Do you wanna build a snowman?"_

At this, Jack blinked in amusement, before shrugging with a laugh. "Oh, we're singing today, huh? And snowmen? Okay, cool."

_"Come on, let's go and play!" _she urged excitedly, raising her arms up, before they slumped down to her sides.

She then twisted around, leaning her back against her sister's door. _"I never see you anymore,"_ she expressed as she slouched down to the floor.

_"Come out the door,"_ Anna peeked down the doorsill, just as Jack had been doing before.

_"It's like you've gone away."_

_"We used to be best buddies,"_ she sighed as she got back to her feet.

_"And now we're not."_

_"I wish you would tell me why."_

Almost immediately, at a pace which startled the winter sprite, the younger princess hopped towards the keyhole, peering through it with her wide, left eye.

_"Do you wanna build a snowman?"_ she asked again with very adorable expression that made Frost laugh.

_"It doesn't have to be a snowman,"_ Anna mumbled through the keyhole with pouting lips, eliciting another chuckle from their invisible visitor.

Before either could say anything else, however, a sharp voice from the other side cut them off. "_Go away, Anna!_"

Jack gave a start, throwing an accusative stare at the painted door. "_Aha!_ You _were_ in there!"

His excitement immediately died down, however, when his eyes fell on the disappointed expression that spread throughout Princess Anna's posture. One that was growing to be more and more familiar around here.

_"Okay, bye..."_

With that, she miserable trudged back to where she came from, shoulders lurching all the while.

* * *

***(Song End)***

* * *

Letting out a groan, Jack placed his crook against the wall, firmly placing his hands on his hips in a reprimanding manner.

"You've know that doesn't actually work, right?" he asked, eyes furrowing in frustration. "She's gonna come back later. Tomorrow for sure! Kid, you can't just keep pushing her away like this! At some point, something's gotta give!"

Elsa did not respond to him, and this time, he didn't take it as well as he did earlier.

"Look, this is the first bit of snowfall you've gotten since the accident! You don't have to worry about her finding out about your powers! You can go out and play! Be with your best friend!"

And him, though he wasn't going to say that out loud.

Another sigh escaped his lips as he leaned his back against the door, crossing his arms in thought.

Elsa was being belligerent about this. Still, she had to have realized that she could come out today without taking a risk, right? She was smart, so she should have. If that was the case, it seemed she was still having doubts about it, which meant all the magical tyke needed was some convincing. To make her believe that she could have fun today, and not worry about it.

_...How,_ though?

Before long, a sly smirk then widened on Jack's expression. He knew how to get her to come out. After all, how do you get somebody who wanted to have fun to go out and have it?

Simple: have them watch somebody else having it.

And luckily for him, there was somebody else in this castle, and unlike Elsa, she was _more_ than willing to have fun at the moment.

"So you wanna build a snowman, eh, Princess?" he whispered as he rubbed his hands together, before tugging the knot of his shawl.

"...But why stop at just _one?_"

* * *

Having already changed into her winter outfit, Princess Anna still wore a sad expression as she entered the main courtyard, a sled trailing right behind that she easily tugged over her shoulder with the rope.

Elsa didn't want to come out to play again. As usual. It was fine, though. She could have fun by herself. She'd been doing it for a while now.

Besides, tomorrow was Elsa's birthday. Maybe her big sister was getting ready for tomorrow, and just wasn't up for it today? Yeah, definitely. Elsa would probably want to play tomorrow.

That's fine. She could wait another day.

Still, that meant Anna had to come up with what to do today herself, and luckily, she would do the very thing she had asked her sister to come out for. Build the snowman they always made together... only by herself today.

Placing her sled somewhere nearby for later, Anna let out another despondent sigh as she looked up for a large mound of snow to help constitute her snowman.

Then she saw them.

Blinking her eyes unbelievably, the youngest princess realized she wasn't dreaming, and let out a sharp gasp of wonder. "_WOW!_"

She then ran towards the middle of the courtyard, ignoring the other snowbanks, and other particulars of winter that were only present in wintertime. For standing in the center of the courtyard was not one, not two, but _dozens_ of expertly-built snowmen. Expertly-built in the sense that they were not rough and placed on top of each other like their Olaf was, but rather the snow was blended together in a way that made it seem as if it was part of the body. In fact, these snowmen had no twig arms like Olaf, but genuine arms molded together in snow, perfect and realistic.

The realism ended there, however, for their hands were round and finger-less. They looked silly and simple, like Olaf, though forged by a hand with far more skill and grace than she and her sister possessed. They had simple, beady eyes, twigs for noses, and drawn-in smiles on their expression. Buttons were on their round stomachs, with some being two side-by-side, or the usual one-per-snowball. On their hands were long sticks like poles, or brooms.

The reason why, Anna, realized, was because each of those snowpeople had hats on that clarified what they were supposed to be. The ones with long sticks had the large hats the redhead often saw worn by the guards patrolling the castle, while others had bonnets belonging to the maids that cleaned the castle. The ones she used to drive wild with her sister. Despite the fact they didn't do that anymore, she was too overcome with the sense of wonder and joy to take notice it.

"_THIS IS AM-A-ZING!_" she cried out, giggling wildly as she spread her arms out, running around the assembled group to marvel at them closely, spotting the differences between each of them. The hats, the scarves around their necks. The colors.

Suddenly, she jolted up as a thought occurred to her.

"Wait... Did Elsa do this?" She brought her hands up to her cheeks. "Maybe that's why she told me to go away! She got tired from making all these snowmen!"

Her grin then fell into a thoughtful frown. "But why didn't she have me help her? Actually, when did she come out to make 'em?"

Humming to herself, she patted her cheeks when she came up with an answer. "Probably when I was doing my lessons. Yep."

Anna twisted on her heel to glance up at the window to Elsa's room. "_Okay, Elsa! I'm gonna add my own snowman to yours, okay?! Watch me!_"

Laughing cheerfully, Anna once more took off, this time going back to her original focus of finding a lot of snow to make a snowman with. And all the while, she hadn't noticed Jack Frost crouching over the top of the tallest snowman as if he weighed nothing at all.

He didn't mind, though. Making random, incredible groups of snowmen was something he often did, usually for sick, sad, and/or lonely kids. And though Anna was anything but sick, she had been sad and lonely. Truthfully, he had been neglecting the freckled girl in favor of trying to get her magical sister to see him for the past few weeks, which was something he felt none too proud for. And he still felt none too happy that what he did now was also to get Elsa to finally notice him. Regardless, it was killing two birds with one stone. Anna would have some fun in her first winter since having been separated from her sister, and Elsa would be encouraged to join Anna soon after.

Not to mention, if everything went according to plan, _he_ would get in on the fun once Elsa saw him, hopefully convincing Anna soon after.

Overall, whatever guilt he had was overweighed by his growing hope.

"Don't strain yourself too much, Freckles!" Jack called after her as he waved his staff over him. "Not everyone can make snowmen like I can!"

The wind whipped underneath him, propelling him back to his usual entrance on the top floor, and landing him back inside, frosting over some windows in his wake.

Sliding down the bare hallway, Jack was happy to see that the door to Elsa's room was open. He ceased his momentum right as he was across the door, hopping past the door frame to get inside.

Moving over the large carpet that stretched under her bed, Frost saw that the King and Queen were inside, talking with Elsa, who was sitting on the window seat, where she was usually found. From what he was hearing, it seemed that the King had been asking her about how her lessons for the day had been going. Something about geography... or was it geometry? Probably geometry. It was one of her favorite subjects, he had learned, though he attributed that to her more artistic nature. It was something he discovered only after he had stopped trying to use his magic to get her to see him, watching her paint a small portrait of Anna, though it was only that of a child's level of skill.

Before long, however, the topic changed to something else. One that worked in Jack's favor, and was the reason he had come up to her room.

"It's snowing outside. An early winter," King Agnarr observed almost purposefully, glancing over to her.

"...Yeah," Elsa nodded, looking over her left shoulder to the scene outside, seated on toward the left end of the bench.

"Anna was actually very ecstatic this morning. She hadn't seen it, but she knew it was white outside. I can only imagine how she felt when she saw the landscape," Agnarr added further.

"She was very excited. I could tell from how she was telling me earlier," the Snow Princess answered, head dipping forward ever so slightly.

Tossing his warrior's wood to his left hand, hefting it on his shoulder, the invisible sprite stalked over to the window seat, and sat down on the unoccupied end, none of the royals noticing, hearing, or seeing him as he crossed his right leg over his left.

"Anna... spoke to you?" the king asked curiously.

"From the other side of the door," she explained, letting out a long exhale from her nostrils beforehand.

"Oh. Of course."

Seconds passed by as both of them said nothing, Jack merely glancing between the two awkwardly. Finally, her father let out a deep sigh as he made to sit down next to his little girl. Right where Jack was sitting, in fact, forcing the boy to let out a sharp breath as he tore himself away from Arendelle's Monarch, shuddering afterwards.

"Elsa, look at me," he started, looking at her as if he were looking deeply into her soul. The little girl certainly felt like he was, the way she somewhat shrunk away from him. "It's been a while since the last accident."

"I know."

"...Well..." he continued, looking like he knew what he wanted to say, but didn't know how to say it. The king, it seemed, decided to just go out and say it. "Your mother and I wanted you to know that... well... if you feel like you are up to it, and have your powers under control... you could go out and play with your sister."

At this, Elsa's head jolted up, looking at her parents with wide, stunned eyes. "Wh-what?"

Her mother smiled, hands folded in front of her. "After discussing it, we felt that if you were comfortable enough... you could go out and play with your sister today," she repeated warmly.

The little girl briefly looked away to the side, a thoughtful expression on her face. "R... Really?"

"Yes," King Agnarr confirmed. "But only if you feel you can conceal it. And it will be under our supervision. If so, then you are more than welcome to go out for the day."

"What we don't want," he continued, "is for you to feel like you're a prisoner in your own home. As I've said before, this measure is only temporary. However, if you feel you can conceal it, then we are more than happy to go out with you. To see if there has been any change."

Jack watched as the meaning of the monarchs' words sunk in for the little princess. Even then, he could see the girl grappling with the severity of it. Reluctance versus hope.

Biting her lower lip, she then squeaked out, " Can I... think about it?"

A brief glance was exchanged between the king and queen, their eyes dipping in apprehension and disappointment, though not at the girl. It was more like a hope had been dashed, and buried for another time. In the end, though, they morphed their expressions into something akin to understanding.

Jack had noticed the truth of it, but he was unaware if the princess had enough wisdom to see it as well, or only get so far as the disappointment. Probably not, judging by the glint of shame he caught.

Managing to smile reassuringly, King Agnarr reached out and put his hand on Elsa's left shoulder reassuringly. "Of course. Whatever you wish."

Standing up to his full height, Agnarr ushered his wife to the door at the other end of the room. Elsa, out of habit, stood up form her seat, and curtsied to her royal parents.

Right as he was about to close the door, her father glanced back at Elsa one last time. "If you feel you are up to it... come find us in the library. We'll be nearby." With that, the door once again closed, leaving their daughter alone in her room.

And Jack.

Frost had looped his arms over his warrior's wood, resting it on both shoulders. He silently observed the princess let out a loud sigh, one she had been holding in since her parents had entered, before retreating back to her seat by the large window.

A single eyebrow rose as a lopsided grin stretched from his lips knowingly. "You _do_ wanna go out, don'tcha?"

Sauntering over to the window, the invisible boy plopped down on the cushions, tossing his staff over to his left as watched the girl look out the window.

"You want to have fun again. But you're worried your powers will ruin it," he examined further, eyes dipping in pensive understanding, before softening. "It's okay, though. All the accidents you had were my fault. You have more control than you think."

A distant bout of laughter came from below in the courtyard, prompting both ice magic wielders to look outside. Elsa's sister had used the sled she brought out with her to carry a decent amount of snow, and had hefted it down to the ground. Some of it had gotten on her winter coat and face, but Anna only laughed after the first shiver, the snow tickling her skin.

Elsa smiled at the sound of Anna's laughter, but quickly frowned. Not out of melancholy, no, but confusion, he discovered. Following her line of sight, Jack Frost couldn't help the laugh he let out as she was looking at his display of snowmen.

"Did Anna do that?..." the princess wondered aloud, sitting back away from the window, hands folded over her knees.

"Nope. All me!" Jack admitted, pointing at himself with his right thumb, lopsided, confident grin in full effect. "But I did do it for her. And you." He then shifted around on his seat, positioning himself so he sat cross-legged in front of her, his expression becoming encouraging and earnest. "It's snowing. There's no way your sister's gonna find out about your powers today. For once, you can let it go."

Deep down, he knew his words could not reach her, unheard as he usually was. But his hopes for her began to swell when he noticed the traces of a smile growing, egged on by another burst of laughter from Anna outside.

"...I knew it," he grinned, feeling relieved at seeing that the accident hadn't completely robbed the princess of her smile. "You _do_ wanna have fun. You just need an extra push."

With that, he lifted his right free hand to his face, before snapping his fingers. There, a small snowflake popped into existence between his thumb and pointing finger. Sucking in his breath, he then blew softly against the snowflake, covering it with blue, sparkling magic that enveloped it whole, making it glow bright blue. Elsa hadn't noticed it yet, which was just fine. It was always funner when it caught them by surprise.

'It' being any bit of snow laced with his unique magic. Once it made contact with anybody - the methods being irrelevant, though his favorite was hitting them with snowballs - all the negative feelings and thoughts would go away for a short time. And instead, they would have fun. True, he was bewitching them in a sense, but it only lasted for a few moments. After that, they were more than welcome to stop. Thing is, when you're already having fun, why would you _want_ to stop?

Letting the snowflake twirl around his open palm for another pause, Jack gestured it tentatively forward, right at Elsa, who was still smiling. Narrowing his blue orbs in concentration, Jack grinned as it was going to land on Elsa's nose, right as she placed her bare hands on the window pane, ensuring that she would finally free herself from all doubts, and be with her sister once again.

That was when something impossible and devastating occurred.

The very second the braided youngster placed her hands on the window pane, her eyes widened in terror, causing ice to shoot out from beneath her palms. It spread wide around where he hands had been, and went up partway to the lower glass. The mere sight of it caused the Snow Princess to reel back, as if in pain.

Though the accidental release of sharp ice had startled him, it was not that which made the winter sprite's blood run colder than it already did. It was the fact that the snowflake he had made, as soon as her ice had appeared, stopped right where it was, and fell down to the cushion, breaking apart, fragile as it already was.

She had frozen it solid, stopping his snowflake in its tracks.

"What?!..." Jack's breath softly squealed, befuddled by her magic stopping his.

Meanwhile, Elsa had already started kicking away from her ice, panic making her pupils dilate. Jack had reached out for her when she tumbled down to the floor, making him shoot up to his feet, though the princess kept going, heeding the fall very little, all the while letting out short gasps of breath.

"_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!_" she hissed, before finally making it to the center of the round carpet before her window. Finally getting the sense to stand up, the princess immediately brought her hands to her chest, both clutching each other so tightly, their skin went white. "_Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't feel!_"

Meanwhile, Jack was running his hands through his hair, trying to make sense of what had happened. "Bu-but... B-b-but she...! _She can cancel out my magic?!_"

Elsa still continued to hiss out her mantra, her clasped hands shaking all the while. After another minute, she cautiously looked down, unclasping her tiny limbs from each other-

Only for the magic that had coalesced during her panic to glow brightly before shooting up to the ceiling, and exploding into shiny, bright particles.

Then it started snowing.

"_NO!_"

Shrieking and shaking her head, the princess darted all the way to her bed, leaping ungracefully to the top of it. Crawling over to the headboard, she drew in upon herself, continuing to sputter her safe mantra. "_Conceal don't feel! Conceal, don't feel! Conceal, don't feel!_"

Jack Frost, however, could only gape at how the princess was collapsing in on herself with fear, trying to understand how things had backfired so suddenly. Brows dipping in determination, he then resolved to try to calm her down. Making his way in front of her chimney, he snapped another snowflake into existence, and then blew it at her, the magic quickly settling itself in to the fractals of the flake.

This time, it did manage to touch Elsa's nose, and...

She kept hissing out "Conceal, don't feel," paying no attention to the snowflake, its magical purpose, or showing any signs it had affected her.

It didn't work.

It _didn't work._

"_No..._" he gasped silently.

There was no way. This couldn't be _POSSIBLE!_ His magic _never_ failed! It should have worked!

...Unless...

The truth hit him hard, making his heart sink further in pity for the girl.

There was too much fear in her right now. It would have worked before she let the ice slip out, when she was even slightly tempted to go out and have fun. Now, though? It was fruitless.

After all, she had just proven her parents wrong. She _wasn't_ ready.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Jack slumped down on the bed, sitting down so that he was facing away from her. Elsa's whispers had become less harsh before long, turning softer; more silent. Then the words didn't come out at all.

The whole while, Jack did and said nothing, keeping himself to his thoughts.

Today was the chance. The moment he had been waiting for. He would get her to go outside today, and have the best chance he could have to be seen by the blonde little princess. But her powers proved to be too much for her today. And now, she wouldn't go outside, even with the possibility that Anna wouldn't figure out her secret. The snow outside wouldn't be enough to hide it, let alone protect her sister from it.

Her powers were just too strong. Too strong for him, too.

Minutes after that, after loud, deep inhales, the tears came, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Twisting around, Jack's face fell as tears ran down her little round cheeks unbidden, her sobs sounding so terribly hopeless, lost, and defeated.

Messily, she tried to wipe the tears away, even swiping at her nose roughly. But the tears still fell.

"I... I-I _can't,_" she wept, bringing her hands back down to her chest. "I can't control it... I-I can't _do this!_"

Frost's head dipped down in defeat, the words hitting him hard. Elsa _could_ learn to control it if she had the right guidance. And there was someone who could guide right there. _He_ could be the one she was waiting for. But without her being able to see him... how could he?

_'I wish I knew how to help you...'_

Snow covering his shawl, pants, and shirt, the boy let out another deep sigh as he glanced at crying child again, reaching out to her face to wipe her tears away.

He knew it wouldn't work. It would go through, just like always. But he had to do something, since he couldn't help her how he wanted to.

His finger approached her left cheek, Jack expecting for it to fully go through, anticipating the certain chill that grated at him to engulf his finger...

.

.

.

...Only it _didn't._

The droplet engulfed the top part of his finger, wetting it. And instead of phasing through her cheek, his finger lightly pressed against it, an unfamiliar sensation hitting him as their skin met each other.

Warmth. Her cheeks felt _warm._

And if none of that was enough to make him recoil back in stunned shock, it was her jolting up, and immediately twisting in his direction. Her wide, startled eyes were watching him as well.

Looking in his direction.

Looking at _him._

Jack felt his lungs freeze. Any feeling in his body had stopped, frozen to the spot as the Snow Princess was...

Was he dreaming?

Was this _real?_

Was she _really...?_

Then, somehow, someway... words escaped his lips.

"Uh..." he squeezed out, saying the first thing that came to mind. "...Happy... Birthday?..."

...She screamed.

"_AAAAH!_"

Jack screamed after she did.

"_AAAAH!_"

"_AAAAHHH!_"

"_AAAAHHH!_"

"_AAAAAHHHH!_"

"_AAAAA- OOOF!_"

Amidst his third cry, Elsa had finally gotten the sense to toss her pillow at her intruder. The force of it was enough to send Jack falling back onto the floor.

"_MAMA! PAPAAAA!_" she wailed out, heaving another pillow at Jack.

"No, no, no, wait! Wait, it's okay! It's okay! I'm not- OOF!" A pillow flew into his mouth mid-sentence.

"_MAMAAA! PAPAAA!_" she screamed out again, retreating away from him, and approaching her headboard.

Before Frost could try to dissuade her panic - all the while still trying to convince himself this was _happening_ \- a harsh *BANG* was heard from the door. Because the little Snow Princess had frozen the room over earlier, it hadn't opened. Another *BANG* followed afterward. Then another and another.

"_ELSA, DEAR, HANG ON! PAPA'S HERE!_" King Agnarr's voice cried beyond the door, the man likely rushing against the door with his shoulder.

Jack's eyes widened in alarm. If the princess could see him - she was _seeing him_ \- would the king be able to, also?

Would he have him captured? Locked up?

As such things rushed through his mind, gripping onto his staff in panic, wind suddenly whipped around him. Coming from the chimney, ash and dust surrounded him as he felt his rear leave the floor, and him along with it, causing the frightened child to let out another terrified yell.

"Wait, what? Wait! Wai-wai-wai-wait-"

He had tried to usher the wind to stop, but for the first time in forever, it did not heed him. Instead, it sucked him right up the chimney, screaming all the while. Not even thirty seconds later, he burst out of the top of Elsa's chimney, taking the grate cover at the top of it along with him.

"_Ho-ho-ho..._" Jack dazedly remarked. Right before righting himself, and realizing his staff was out of reach.

His stomach lurching, Frost then felt gravity pulling back down to the ground over the main courtyard. Desperately, he scanned around for his crook, finally spotting it after a moment's breath. Hands shooting out wildly, he managed to snatch it on the sixth try.

"_HAHA, GOTCHA-_"

Only to land on a rough, round mound of snow.

Groaning after a minute, the staggered boy started to push himself back up. "So... That's what it feels like to go up a chimney-"

More snow fell on top of him, making him fall back on the ground, hitting his head hard.

Princess Anna let out a sigh of triumph as she placed the last piece of Olaf on top of his body. Triumph which quickly became alarm when she saw the state of her snowman. Alarm which quickly morphed to fury.

"_Heeeey, who messed up my snowman?!_" she cried out, searching her surroundings, and seeing nobody but the guards patrolling the castle grounds. "_I'm gonna tell on you guys!_" She then ran off inside, calling out for the queen, making a racket about how the castle guards were being mean to her.

Meanwhile, Jack slowly dug himself out of the snow, head bobbing left and right in disorientation, eyes rolling all the while.

"Look, Printhess!..." he called out groggily, a shaking hand pointing at the imaginary snowflakes swimming before his eyes. "_Snowflakes!..._"

Then, Jack Frost fell back down on the snow.

...After another while, he tore himself out of the frost, shaking his head wildly to remove the large clumps of snow clinging to him. Once his head stopped spinning, Jack glanced back up to Princess Elsa's window.

There, behind the glass, was the magical girl looking down at him. As soon as their eyes met, she quickly turned away in fright.

She saw him?

She could _see_ him?!

"She... _She can see me?!_"

* * *

_Yep. She could see me._

* * *

**-CHAPTER FIVE END**

* * *

**AN: And that's how they first meet.**

**Also, points to whoever knows what the sound Jack's knock makes is supposed to be. Hint: the taps = the syllables.**

**The first part of this chapter was inspired by a comic by Stickydoona on Tumblr.**

**Again, the beautiful cover art was made by Jomakesart, aka Hotcuppahjo, who has done some of the most iconic, in my opinion, art pieces for the Jelsa fandom. I am very thankful to have commissioned her for my story, and hope to do so again in the future. Seriously. She's SOOO GOOD!**

**Her Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram handles are  jomakesart, so look her up there also.**

**A lot of this chapter came about by reading William Joyce's own interpretations on what Jack does on his Instagram. One post details how he always made snowmen for lonely kids, and I figured Jack would TOTALLY do this for Anna.**

**Again, I do apologize in advance if Jack not doing what he wants is kinda OOC for him, but again, it will all be explained later on. It's setup for another character who will appear later on in the story. Some of you may have already guessed who it is, but you'll have to wait and see.**

**Let me know what you guys think of this chapter and the new piece. Until next time...**

**READ & REVIEW!**

* * *

**Next Chapter: Jack Frost tries to convince Princess Elsa of Arendelle he's not a bad guy.**


	7. Chapter 6: Bad Guys and Bad Dreams

_Narration_

_'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

_"Singing"_

_"Sing" - "Siiing"_

***(Song Title - Source/Artist)***

* * *

***~*~*~ _Chapter Six:_ Bad Guys and Bad Dreams ~*~*~***

* * *

Elsa was still struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

One second, she was losing control of the storm again, just as she had been doing ever since the accident. Then the next, a complete and total stranger was sitting next to her on the bed, wiping away her tears.

Understandably, the princess had been horrified, and for many reasons. The two most forthcoming were that no one, save for those with permission from her parents, were allowed in her room, so that boy should not have been in there. The other, more startling one, was that the youth had been seemingly sucked out of her room from her chimney.

And he had fallen. Fallen all the way down to the courtyard, where Anna was building a snowman.

And somehow... he was still okay.

That... made _no_ sense.

A hard crash from the side of the chamber drowned out her thoughts, as her father charged through her door, breaking through the ice that had accumulated, with her mother following shortly behind him. Wide, panicked green eyes scouted the room frantically, before stopping firmly on Elsa for the briefest of seconds. The queen had found her first, however, before darting over to her bed, reaching out, and bringing her close in a tight embrace, arms clutched protectively around her.

"Elsa, are you alright?!" her father demanded as he approached the bedside, while at the same time letting out a breath of relief.

Unable to help herself, Elsa sobbed into her mother's chest, her shoulders shaking as tiny fists clenched the fabric of the queen's dress. Her face buried, the little princess shook her head.

"What's wrong, little snow?" Queen Iduna asked as her eyes widened and narrowed in alarm.

A harsh sniffle and a rub of her nose with her sleeve later, Elsa pried herself away slightly from her mother's chest, and looked up with wide, apologetic, anxious eyes. "I-I...! I-I'm sorry, Mama, Papa."

"What for?"

"I couldn't... couldn't conceal it!" she whimpered, lightly gesturing to the mess of snow and ice cluttered around her chamber with a nod of her head.

Her mother caressed her bangs, looking down on her reassuringly. "Elsa, it's alright."

"But I... I-I have to conceal it! If I can't, then...!"

"Elsa, there is nothing wrong with stumbling," the queen reassured her tenderly. "So long as you have the strength and courage to try again."

"But Mama..."

"Your mother is right, my dear," Agnarr agreed, wiping away the tears on her left cheek. "You needn't exert yourself. Take all the time you need to master your powers. The last thing we want is for you to hurt yourself."

"But what if I hurt someone else?!" she cried out, her anxiety written across her face. "Like that boy who was in here earlier when he wasn't supposed to!"

At this, the monarchs of Arendelle both straightened up in alarm. Sharing a shocked look with each other, Elsa's parents then glanced back at their child.

"Elsa, _what_ boy?" the king asked worriedly.

"The boy who was in my room!" she clarified, wringing her hands together. "I... I-I lost control, and started crying. But then I felt someone wiping my tears away, kinda like how you do it, Papa." She started waving her hands as her explanation became more frantic. "It was some boy, who-who looked like he could be a peasant from the village. But-but he had a brown shawl, and white hair. Still, he wasn't supposed to be in here! My powers were too strong, I would've hurt him! And then he... he-he _flew!_"

"_Flew?_" the Queen parroted.

"Yes!... Well, it looked like he was _flying,_ but it was actually the wind blowing into my room, and sucked him up my chimney!"

So engrossed was she by her own explanation, Elsa hadn't realized the color drain from her mother's expression.

"He went up the chimney, and then he fell down to the courtyard. He kinda fell on the snowman Anna was making-"

"Anna?! This boy was with your sister?!" the Queen demanded, slightly startling Elsa.

"Yes... But-but it's strange. It's like she didn't see him, and...!"

Turning around to point towards her large window, the princess' eyes widened in renewed horror, right before letting out a terrified screech as he crawled away towards her mother.

"_AAAAAHHH! IT'S HIM! HE'S BY THE WINDOW!_"

Indeed, she had reason to be alarmed. For on the other side of her window, pressing his face against the glass whilst sitting - in _mid-air_ \- on his gnarled crook, was Jack Frost.

"_Hey!_ You... You can _SEE_ me?!" he cried out, his voice muffled by being on the other side of the window, tapping his fist against the glass.

Having jumped up from his daughter's cries, King Agnarr hurriedly stalked over to the window, looking out for this intruder. "Where?! Where is he, Elsa?"

At this, the princess gawked briefly in bewilderment. "What do you mean, Papa?! He's floating _right there!_"

Frost sat up promptly as he watched her point at him. Looking over both of his shoulders, hope built upon his face as he pointed at himself. "Me? You-you're pointing at _me,_ right?!" He then gestured at himself with both of his hands. "Right _here?_"

Twisting around, the king gave the princess a confused expression. "Elsa, there's no one there. It's not possible. No one can scale the castle up to this height, let alone get past the walls and guards."

"But he's not climbing! He's _flying!_ He's...!" Furrowing her eyebrows in a mix of uncertainty and frustration, the little girl looked over to the young man behind the window wildly trying to get her attention, before glancing back to her father, pointing at the white-haired youth. "Papa, I'm telling you, he's _right THERE!_"

Somehow, Jack's eyes went wider as she pointed at him once again, confirming with complete certainty what he had already discovered, yet had trouble believing all the same. "You can see me... You can _see me!_ She can _see me!_" he gasped, looking to the side as he roughly ran his hands through his hair.

Agnarr had glanced back to the window, looking over to see what his oldest daughter was referring to. In fact, she saw that he clearly made eye contact with the boy... or at least, it looked like he had.

And yet, he still wasn't freaking over the fact that there was flying boy freaking out on the other side of the window.

He was, however, growing wary at her when he looked back. "Elsa, I don't understand. There's nobody there."

"What? But... But...!"

Elsa did not like the face her father was making. He would make a similar expression whenever Anna said something silly or ridiculous. But it was also different. Afraid, wary.

Afraid of what? _Her?_

Then she remembered what the trolls had said. The image they had shown her. People would be afraid of her. Was this how it started? With her _father?_

It was too much. Her father. The boy freaking out outside. All of it.

She realized it too late. It was snowing around her again.

She wasn't controlling it.

She _wasn't CONCEALING IT!_

Letting out a gasp, she shook her head, bringing her hands to her temples, and curling up to ball. "I...! I'm sorry, Papa! I...! _No!_"

Before another whimper could escape her lips, strong, tender arms wrapped themselves around her, lifting her up. Daring to open her eyes, she found her mother looking back at her with concern, but not fear.

"Come, little snow. Let's go to the library, while the maids clean up your room."

Agnarr straightened up at her sudden suggestion. "Iduna, what...?"

The Queen's eyes had a cutting glint to them. One that he had seen many a time before, which told him that when it was present, he had to be silent, and just go with it.

"_Dear..._ We are _going_ to the library."

"...Yes. Of course."

Jack, who had finally stopped freaking out, and had finally noticed the little girl's growing distress, pressed against the glass, smacking his hand against it. "Hey, hey, wait! No, don't be afraid! I'm not a bad guy! I'm here to help you ou_aaaaaaaww,_ darnit."

The King and Queen had escorted their daughter out of the room, the princess curled up, watching him in terror all the while.

Letting out a defeated sigh, he rested his forehead against the windowpane.

* * *

"My King, is everything well?" Kai asked as King Agnarr closed the door of the library, leaving his wife and oldest daughter inside.

Letting out a deep breath through his nostrils, the King swiftly turned on his heels, striding down the hallway.

"Where is Anna?"

"Gerda is tending to her at the moment, sire. I believe she is still playing outside in the snow," Kai answered, hurriedly following after him.

"Bring her back inside, at once," the king snapped. "Escort her to her room, and keep her inside until I say so."

"Er... Of course, Your Highness, but is... Is something the matter?" the steward asked.

"As soon as Anna is in her room, call the captain of the guard. I need all guards on alert. They're to be looking for an intruder in the castle grounds."

Kai gasped in alarm. "There's an intruder in the castle?!"

"I do not know," Agnarr responded. "But Elsa believes she saw somebody. Which means there can be no risks."

"Do we have a description?"

"She said it was a boy, so the guards will refrain from using lethal force," he ordered. "However, if there is an intruder in the castle, I want you to bring him to me at once."

"As you command, my liege."

* * *

No sooner had he informed Kai of the situation did the King's orders get relayed throughout the castle's soldiers. Princess Anna was escorted back to her room by a group of maids and guards. Where once there had been snowmen, the courtyard was filled with patrolling guardsmen.

Spears pointed upwards, they marched to and fro, eyes scanning their surroundings for the supposed intruder, ready to dish out the justice of Arendelle, along with their counterparts on the walls.

"...Hey, guys! Lookin' for someone?" a voice called out from the front steps of the castle entryway. "'Cuz, uh, I'm right here, y'know! Right under your noses..."

Seated quite comfortably and out in the open, Jack Frost watched with an amused raised eyebrow as the squads of men continued searching for him... Even though he knew from prior experience they weren't going to see him.

Earlier, he had realized that, for the first time since he awoke, this was the first time anyone was actually looking for _him. _He wanted to be seen, of course, but no matter how much he wailed or made a show of himself for attention, none of the guards spotted the winter sprite. It wasn't as if he was trying to get caught, of course, more that he wanted to see if the sudden change to his existence had spread out to more than just one little girl.

And as usual, he wasn't as lucky. So Frost decided he was going to have some fun with them. The usual snowballs and ice slips. This time, however, it was far more hilarious, as they were actively looking for someone, and his pranks were making them react in funny ways.

All the while, though, he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier.

Finally, after one hundred years of silence and misery, somebody human had seen him.

Someone who had magic, just like him. Magic just like his own.

A little girl who, unfortunately, was terrified of her own magic now, and was currently terrified of him.

Initially, he had planned to take it slow. Gently ease her into using her magic, however invisible he was, with his strange fun magic that he always had. However, he wasn't expecting the princess' magic to spiral out of control so wildly, and counter his. He also hadn't been prepared for Elsa to see him so suddenly. Who could've predicted _that_ would happen? Certainly not Jack Frost, that's for sure.

So here he was, without a clue on what to do, and no way to tell Princess Elsa that she needn't fear him. Jack would be cut off by her screams the moment she saw him, if the second time he flew up to her window was any hint.

But no way was he gonna leave now. Now, when she had clearly seen him? When she could hold the answer to how he can shed this veil of invisibility? When she _clearly_ needed a friend?

Yeah. _No way._

So what to do, then? How to get through to her, without her panicking?

The grand hinges of the door behind him began to screech, making him look over his shoulder to spot Kai coming out. The steward walked past him, and made his way to the nearest guardsman, who looked more official than the others. Their leader, perhaps?

"Any news, captain?" Kai asked.

"Nothing new. There have been several occasions where something has antagonized our troops, but we've yet to find anybody," the soldier reported with a salute.

"I see. I'll send the word to the king. In the meantime, keep searching, captain."

And as the old steward returned indoors, the winter sprite's expression grew as the exchange gave him an inspiration.

Send word. He'd send word to her!

Jack was gonna write to her that he wasn't a bad guy!

And he knew just where to get the paper.

* * *

It was by a stroke of sheer luck and circumstance that Princess Anna was already drawing by the time he made it to her bedroom. More so that the door was open, albeit with two guards flanking the doorway on either sides.

This particular tendency was one courtesy of Anna herself, which was likely in response to her sister's closed door. If she was to have a choice, then it would always be open.

Except when she was out. Or asleep. Maybe when she was raiding the kitchens for chocolate, hoping to throw the staff off.

But not for anything else.

Jack, who had waved his free hand not holding his crook in front of both the sentinels, waltzed in easily, waving at the young redhead. "Heya, Freckles. Whatcha up to?"

Anna, of course, didn't answer, too focused on her drawing, her tongue sticking out to the side in focus. Still, Jack couldn't help but sigh. He had been hoping that the excitable little royal could see him now, too, but it seemed it was still just only Elsa.

Looming over her, the ancient lad peered down to see what she was drawing. Truly, he couldn't help the smile that grew in response.

The picture was of her and Elsa, as well as Olaf, that silly-looking snowman from so long ago now, it seemed. But he wasn't the only snowman there, of course. No, behind them were dozens of other snowmen, ones Jack instantly recognized as the ones he made.

"Still think your sister made those guys, huh?" asked with a lopsided grin, before shrugging. "I mean, she could if she wanted to. It's fine, though. You'll be seeing a lot more of 'em once I let her know why I'm here."

A groan came from the princess, right before she yanked the paper up with her hands, and wrinkled it up to a ball. The youngest princess then ungracefully tossed it to the side, where it joined a smaller pile of other paper balls that Jack had missed earlier.

"No, no, _no!_ That's not what those other snowmen looked like!" she cried, rubbing her hand on her forehead in agitation, a pout on her face. "They looked cleaner, _nicer!_ I have to get it right! It's for Elsa's birthday!"

Oh, so that's what she was doing, Frost realized. She wanted to make a picture for her big sister, so she was making it look nice. He then frowned when he recalled just how the image looked. It was no work of art, true, so maybe she was doing her level of 'best?' For a kid her age, that is.

"Ah, I'm sure you'll get it right before tomorrow." Jack bent down, slowly reaching for a spare parchment after the princess had nabbed her new one. "Anyway, you mind if I borrow a piece of paper from you, real quick? How 'bout a crayon? No? Sweet. Thanks!"

Snatching the black crayon, Jack tiptoed over to the other side of the room, across her bed. Sitting down in a cross-legged position, he placed the parchment flat on the ground before him.

Picking up the crayon, Jack looked determined to see this through. "Alright. Time to write ourselves a letter!"

He brought the utensil down over the paper's white surface, ready to let his repertoire of vocabulary shine through.

...

...

...

Yet his hand hovered over the paper, frozen.

Lips pursed in concentration, Jack let out a whine. "Writing... Gonna do it... Any second now..."

Seconds had passed. He still hadn't started.

"_...Riiight... Nooow..._"

...

"..."

...

"_Dododododooo..._" came the princess' soft humming from the other side of the bed.

"_...DAH!_"

Slamming the crayon to the side, the young sprite let out a groan of defeat as he let his face fall into his hands.

Jack Frost did not know how to write. Or read.

How could he, when he'd been too busy trying to be visible fro the past hundred years? What was the point of learning how to write, when no could see you? After all, in order to learn, one needed to be taught. And to be taught, one needed to be _seen._

Another whimper escaped his lips, the palms of his hands pressing against his closed eyelids.

Meanwhile, Princess Anna still continued to craft her sister's birthday present.

"That looks good. Now I just need to color... Huh?"

Looking over her assortment of pastels, she realized that one in particular was missing from the crowd.

"_Heeey,_ where'd my black crayon go?"

Huffing to herself, Anna's head swiveled around her, searching for her missing crayon. She even got on all fours to see if she had been sitting on it.

"Where'd it go?" she repeated, looking under her arm, where she saw the cover of her bed over its side. "Did it go under the bed?"

Crawling over to it, she lifted to cover before inching her head down to get a good look.

"Hello? Black crayon?" she called as her wide blue eye looked left and right for it, before squinting slightly to see the other end.

She then snapped up in attention. "_Oh!_"

Jack let out another sigh after running his hand down his face for the umpteenth time. "Now what do I do- _AAAGH!_"

Looking down towards his stomach, the winter sprite spotted the young firebrand phasing through him, reaching out for her utensil to his side. "_Found it!_"

Let out shocked gasp, Jack lurched to his right side to remove himself - move away - from the princess phasing through him, letting out another sharp exhale of breath when they were finally separated.

"_Gagh!... Agh..._ Oh, those are the worst ones..." he sharply hissed. "When they catch me by surprise!"

Anna's triumphant smile shifted into a curious frown when she looked down in front of her, before righting up again. "Oh, an extra piece of paper!"

Snatching the parchment up, the girl hummed to herself as an indignant Jack Frost extended his hand out in protest.

"Wait, no! That's...!" he cried out, bringing his hand down silently in defeat when he realized he was being ignored, "...mine..."

"I mean, I might not need it if I get this one right, but you never know!" Anna shrugged. "Always pays to be prepared."

The frosted boy ran a hand down his face with a groan. "Look, you're no master artist, but your pictures are fine! No matter which one you choose, she's gonna love it. All you gotta do is draw, and take it..."

His jaw fell to an 'O' as the gears began turning on his mind again.

"Draw, and take it to her..." he repeated in a whisper, an excited smile reinvigorating him from his minor defeat. "Make a drawing, and take it to her!"

With that, he dove underneath Anna's bed, and reached out for another paper and crayon - a blue one this time - and made it back to his side of the room right as Princess Anna turned the corner on her side of the bed.

Jack Frost didn't know how to read or write.

But he _did_ know how to draw.

* * *

Jack darted out the room as soon as he was finished, an animated grin on his face, shawl trailing behind him. The winter sprite ignored Anna and the guards' befuddled cries of alarm at the wind - or so they thought - picking up a paper out of the Princess' room. Following the distant whispers of the wind, the boy found his usual window on the right side of the castle, before hopping out into the open air, the wind catching him shortly after.

Gliding throughout the castle, Frost first stopped by her window. He huffed, however, when she saw that Princess Elsa was not in there. Of course, a part him felt that was going to be the case. Still, it had been a while since the king and queen had first taken her out of the nursery, and Jack had spent some time in her sister's room making the drawing.

But he felt he had gotten to know where she liked to meander whenever she was allowed - or allowed herself - to venture out of her room. And one of the places she liked to go was the library. And he did think the Queen might've mentioned that earlier when he was done freaking out over someone finally seeing him after a century of solitude.

Sure enough, he found the queen and her daughter in the castle's library. Elsa had a book on her lap, her arms wrapped around herself. Queen Iduna, however, was reading to her, reciting the words etched on the pages, every so often looking tenderly at her daughter the way any mother should.

Drawing himself up to make a good impression, Jack Frost planted his feet on his staff beneath him before tentatively tapping against the window.

_TAP-TAP. TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP._

Elsa stiffened up at the sound, before looking up in the direction of it. As soon as her eyes met his, the royal daughter immediately let out a shrill cry, which startled her mother, who had all but calmed her down at that point.

"Wait, no! No, no, no, no, calm down! It's okay, it's okay! Don't panic!" Jack's muffled voice called out from the other side of the window.

"Elsa, what is it?! What's the matter?!" the startled Queen Iduna asked, her worried brow dipping as snow flurries began to fall around her due to Elsa's magic.

"It's _him!_ He's back!" Elsa yelped, pointing a glaring finger at Jack's direction. "That boy's outside the window again!"

Jack shook his head, waving his arms across his chest. "No, no, it's okay! I'm not a bad guy! Look!"

Holding up a placating finger, he then reached into his pocket, and pulled out the parchment. The drawing was of a simple angry frowning face, with a large 'X' across it. Above it was an arrow pointing towards the left. It was supposed to point to Jack.

"See? This means 'I'm not a bad guy!'" he explained jovially. "This is a bad guy, and there's and 'X,' and it's pointed at me, because I'm... Uh..."

The rambling youth wanted to slap himself, for he had positioned the paper so that the arrow was pointing away from him. Shifting it back to his right, the arrow was now gesturing to him, which led him to flash the girl a winning smile.

"See? Not a bad guy!"

In all of his excitement, he didn't notice that the queen had stood up from the couch they had been resting on, and was approaching the window he was in front of. Noticing this, he cut himself off, watching in wide anticipation as to whether or not the Queen herself was now somebody who could see him.

"By the..." she said under her breath, looking directly at the sign whopping in front of her window. She then leaned slightly to her right, looking directly at Jack.

"Wait... You can see me, too?..." Jack whispered, his eyes widening as large as the growing hope in his chest.

A hope that died when the queen turned around and relayed to Elsa that there was nobody there. The queen had been looking at him, but she hadn't _seen_ him.

"B-but Mama, he's _right there!_ With the paper in his hands!"

"Elsa, you're just imagining things," the queen responded rather hurriedly, before she took Elsa up to her arms, taking the book they had been reading once her daughter was secure on her right arm's grip. "Come, little snow. Let's go read somewhere more quiet. The wind is being quite loud today."

"But Mama, what if the boy follows us?!" she murmured, glancing over to Frost in fear.

"There is no boy, Elsa," the queen reassured. "Certainly not boys who can fly. You're just seeing things."

"_Hey!_" Jack indignantly retorted. "I'm right here, y'know!"

However, whatever flames that were burning in his chest died down immediately when he saw the queen and Elsa leaving the room. "Hey, no wait, the sign! Read the sign! I'm not a bad guy! I'm- _WhoahoWHOA!_"

Loosing his footing, Jack slipped backwards, proceeding to fall several feet down to the courtyard. Fortunately, he fell on a mound of snow, but it did little to stop him from feeling defeated.

The fact that his sign flitted over his face wasn't helping matters, either.

* * *

_After that, it pretty much went how you'd expect._

_The rest of the day, I kept popping up around the windows of the castle, pointing at the sign, and trying to reassure Elsa that she had nothing to fear from me._

_The first couple of times, it ended with her screaming at my presence._

_But the more the queen talked her down, the more she stopped reacting to me altogether. She still looked up to see me, watching as I pointed towards the sign and myself with a gleam of hope. But instead, the fear was buried under a mask of annoyance. Aggravation._

_I could only imagine that this was what Anna constantly felt deep down every passing day. To be ignored by someone who knew you were there, but still did it anyway. It was still a first for me. I mean, I had been ignored because I was invisible, but at least everyone in all those centuries didn't know I was there._

_Elsa **did** know I was there, but she was still ignoring me. And it made me feel... not great._

_A little angry, to be honest._

_So after she finished with her dinner and returned to her room, I knocked on her door to confront her about it._

_This was something neither of us could run away from, and I needed her to understand that._

_But it seems that she, in turn, made me understand something that hadn't occurred to me at all._

* * *

After having slipped his sign underneath her door, having crossed out the arrow from before and making it so that it was pointing right at him from where he was standing now, Jack raised his fits, and banged against the door.

_TAP-TAP. TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP._

"Alright, enough of the silent treatment, Princess! I _know_ you can hear me!" Jack called out, looping his arms over his crook, and tapping his feet on the floor. "We've got some business to discuss, you and me, and it's about time we settle it."

A minute *_thump_* echoed out from the other side of the door, followed by what appeared to be small footsteps. He had already seen the princess inside when he flew around to find his entry window. And once again, despite her attempts to prove otherwise, she had, indeed, heard the winter sprite, as shown by her reacting to his call.

"Look, I'm not here to hurt you, alright? Read the sign!" he urged, gesturing at the door despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "...Well, okay, you can't really '_read_' it, like, with words, or anything. But it still means the same thing! It means you don't have to be afraid of me!"

Shuffling could be heard from his side, followed by a brief minute of silence. Leaning forward, the boy pressed his ear against the hardwood door, waiting for a response.

So focused was he on listening in on what was happening on the other side, Jack didn't notice something slipping out from beneath the door until it tapped against his right big toe. Scrunching his black, frostbitten eyebrows, he glanced down to the floor to see his sign had been sent back out from the other end.

"Uh, no. No," he chided, arching an eyebrow as he crouched back down, and slid the image back into her room. "That's for you. You're supposed to read it, and understand that I'm not-"

Seconds after the paper had gone through the doorsill, it quickly went back out again.

"...Oh-kay, now you're just doing this on purpose."

He shoved the paper back through the gap, only for it to be returned immediately after.

"Okay, you _are_ doing this on purpose!"

With a grunt, he slid the paper back under the door.

"You can't just throw this away, kiddo! This is supposed to help you understand that I'm not some creepy, bad person out to get you! It means that I'm here to... Hey, wait, what are you doing?"

Pressing against the door again, Jack could distinctly make out a rough crumpling sound from the inside of the room.

His eyes widened in disbelief before they narrowed in indignation. "Are you _crumpling up_ my sign?! _Hey!_" He slapped the door with the palm of his hand. "I worked hard on that thing for you! You can't just go and destroy it like it's noth-"

Suddenly, the door opened. Fortunately, the wintry youth had already pulled away from the door, so he didn't fall against it. However, it did give him a direct view of Princess Elsa glaring at him angrily, her right arm reared back. She then tossed the crumpled ball of paper right at Jack, the projectile colliding harmlessly against his chest. Before he could even register what had happened, the Snow Princess slammed the door on his face.

Blinking incredulously, as if still trying to comprehend if that had even happened, Jack drew himself up with a scrunched up face. "Alright, now you're just being a brat!"

"_Go away!_" Elsa yelled from the other side.

Freezing upon hearing her cry, Frost jumped up to his feet, gesturing to the door in accusation. "_AHA!_ You _do_ see me!"

"_Leave me alone!_"

"Oh, _sure!_ Ditch the first person to ever talk to me in the past 100 years! I'm _totally_ gonna do that!" he countered sarcastically, bringing down his staff in a downward arc while bringing his left free hand up in mock exaggeration. "Yeah, except I'm _not!_ Not until you tell me how you're seeing me, and how I can help you!"

"_I don't want your help! You're gonna get me in trouble!_"

"No, I'm not!" he dismissed with an agitated wave of his hand. "Y'know, I'm starting to doubt you actually realize what this all truly means. How big a deal this is for me!"

"_I don't care!_"

"Well, ya _should!_" Jack snapped back. "This is a big opportunity for the both of us! Look, if you'd just open the door so we can talk, I can-"

"_NO!_" she cried, her tone shifting from fervor to fear swiftly. "_You can't come in!_"

"First of all, I'm not coming in. You have to let me in," he groaned in exasperation, rubbing his brow. "Second of all, why not? What are you so afraid of?"

The answer to that question hit him like an oncoming wagon.

"_YOU!_"

Upon hearing her declaration, Jack stiffened visibly. Face falling into confusion, he shook his head once, thinking he had misheard. "Wait... What?"

Frost waited for the princess to respond, but no answer came. He hadn't heard her move, though, so she was still close to the door.

Pressing against the door, Jack prodded further. "You mean... _I'm_ scaring you?"

"...Yes."

An air of breath escaped from his lips in confused terror. "But... But how? I... I haven't done anything scary! I've just been..."

He couldn't be scary. Had she seen how he looked? Of course she had! She can _see_ him!... And yet, Jack felt that vanity was nowhere near the core of the issue.

So what was the problem? Was it in his demeanor? His attitude? His approach?

When he was about to knock on the door again to ask her for clarification, Jack had thought of Anna, and her everyday monotony. How she would always knock on the door, ask Elsa to come out for the day, only to be rejected. Every so often, the winter sprite had wondered why the youngest princess didn't go and just try to unlock the lock, or something similar. If she really wanted to be with her sister, she'd be trying anything, right?

Except... she didn't. Why?

But of course, Jack was a lot more clever than people gave him credit for. He knew why.

Because, despite not knowing why, Anna respected Elsa's space. Because they were sisters. And somewhere, deep down, regardless of her longing for connection, she knew when she had to leave Elsa alone.

Jack didn't. He kept practically banging on her door, hoping that it would let him in, when really, Elsa should be making that choice. And that he continued to do so scared her, because she, who was supposed to say hidden, could not predict what could happen.

And if Elsa was scared, her powers could flare up. And the last thing he wanted was to give her more reason to hide from him.

Still, the sudden awareness of somebody being frightened by him, made him... unnerved.

And ashamed.

"Oh..." he uttered almost thoughtlessly, falling down to his knees, and using the door to steady himself. "I... I see... Sorry..."

Letting out a shaky breath - he suddenly felt very tired, to his confusion - Jack frowned sadly before conceding. "I'm... Okay. Okay, I'll... I'll be going now... Later."

And the invisible boy did leave, after that. In such a rush built from both defeat and shame, he didn't even bother to pick up the crumpled sign that had rebounded off of his chest from earlier, unmoving from its lonely spot on the castle floor.

* * *

_Is it better to be loved... or feared? I don't really know the answer to that. But I did know one thing._

_Being feared... didn't feel good._

_That moment, realizing Elsa was scared of me, was when I knew, deep down, without realizing it... I didn't want feared._

_I wanted to be loved. To be **believed in.**_

* * *

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

A resounding sound of glass breaking was what had startled the princess awake. Jolting up from her cushions, Elsa gasped as her eyes scanned the direction in which the offending sound blasted from.

She had been peacefully asleep. And despite the new arrangement ever since that terrible night months ago, she had been looking forward to her birthday on the morrow, somewhat. Though she knew it would be different. After all, Anna wouldn't be there, mostly. And it was all her fault. But at least she was there, alive. So she was going to try to enjoy it, and _not_ let that get to her much.

That, and a certain stranger who had been bugging her all day. Especially since it seemed like she had finally got him to go away.

Still... he sounded pretty sad towards the end. The boy even sounded very confused. But he himself was very confusing, asking her weird things like if she could see him, and saying that he wasn't a bad guy.

And fly. He could also fly. Apparently.

It seemed like he was lost. Maybe he was in the wrong place? Maybe he wanted to go somewhere, and somebody needed to show him the way? He was saying nobody could see him, so maybe he was desperate for directions? She could see him, though, whatever that meant. But if that were the case, maybe hearing him out would have been the nicer way to send him away by giving him what he wanted? The princess could have lent him an ear.

Except she also couldn't. Elsa was different than any other person he could ask, so normal rules did not apply. She had magic that was dangerous. She had to stay concealed. Otherwise her powers would hurt others, including him. And nobody deserved to be hurt the way Anna did, as far as she knew. Even intruders.

So the oldest Princess of Arendelle resigned herself to justifying her coldness. It had to be done, simple as that. It had to be done with that stranger, and it especially had to be done with Anna. That was the sacrifice she was making for her sister and Arendelle. No matter how hard it was, that was all there was to it.

So she tried to conceal whatever fear, guilt, and other feelings that came upon with the day's turmoils, and went to sleep, hoping that the next morning would bring less challenges.

That is, until she had been abruptly awakened.

The resounding echo had sounded out louder than it should have been, and for good reason. For, to her fright, the door to her room was open.

Letting out an exhale through her nostrils, Elsa crawled to the edge of her bed, before hopping to the floor. Putting on her slippers, the little girl ambled over to her doorway, peering out into the hall to see if somebody - her parents, most likely - had opened it. However, despite that assurance, the claim couldn't quite erase the sense of unease growing within her.

No one was around, the night sky casting an eerie glow in the castle. More so now since the lights were all out, when they would usually be on this time of the night. And, strangely enough, an ominous mist covered the floor, reaching up all the way to her shins.

"Papa?... Mama?" she called out softly, looking left and right to see if any of her parents were around.

Before she could listen or hear anything else, the door behind her slammed shut, sending her to the floor from the impact with a shriek.

Twisting around to her rear, her eyes widened in shock over the pain, tears beginning to well on the corner of her vision. Quickly getting up, the girl tried pulling on the handle, and retreat to her sanctuary. Unfortunately, much to her alarm, it was locked, leaving her out in the open, where she didn't want to be. Especially at this time of the night.

"_Ma-Mama! Papa!_" she cried out again, this time louder, so that the king and queen could hear her.

The princess' call did get a response... Another distant cry.

"_AAAH!_"

Twisting towards the other end of the hallway, Elsa shook as the familiar sound resonated through the hall. A sound she had heard many times over and over in the worst nights. One of which she had caused.

"_ANNA!_"

Without a moment's hesitation, she darted down the hallway, worry showing on her young face. As soon as she arrived at Anna's door, she was shocked to discover that it was already open. Her little sister was not inside, though her room looked disheveled and messy.

Another time, she would have relaxed at this, shrugging it off as Anna's usual cleanliness. Her side of the room had always been cluttered when they were still sharing the room, after all. But now, though, it only served to increase her fear that something terrible was happening.

Another breaking of something like glass echoed down further from the hallway, followed by another scream that sounded like it came from one of the servants.

It was then that Elsa knew it to be true: something was going on. Just as she was ready to run into Anna's room if it meant hiding from the danger, the door suddenly slammed shut in her face. Fortunately, it did not hit her, but it did cause her to stumble back with a yelp. At this point, her anxiety was starting to break through to the surface, snowflakes beginning to fall around her. Hugging herself, she looked back towards the way she came, knowing now that something ominous was afoot.

Yet, despite all of that, her best friend was in danger. And her parents were nowhere to be found. If nobody did anything, her little sister could be hurt or worse.

Elsa would never forgive herself if that happened, and she did nothing to stop it.

Mustering whatever courage she had left, the Snow Princess trudged onward, making her way to the spiral staircase. One floor down, she stopped by her parent's bedroom chamber, only to find it locked. Moving to descend to the next floor, that was when she almost decided to turn back.

For the more she descended, the more ice enveloped the walls. Elsa hadn't been the one to conjure it, as far as she was aware, but it was still enough to flare her mind into panic. The trolls did say that she would only grow stronger, after all. Who was to say she wasn't subconsciously making ice in her sleep?

Just one more reason to stay concealed, then.

But one thing that stood out to her as she descended further to the main floor, was the stinging feeling that overcame her. It made her feel uncomfortable, yearning for something to remove it. Something warm to fight the chill.

The chill... Cold... This was what it meant to be _cold,_ she realized. It never usually bothered her. It was still snowing around her, mist coming out of her mouth as she breathed out in short gasps. Elsa had been moving at a steady pace, but now the cold had made her slower.

Finally reaching the Great Hall, the princess stopped in her tracks, for what welcomed her was the sight of her greatest of fears. Throughout the large chamber were statures of ice, each depicting somebody that worked for the castle.

Upon closer inspection, she choked at the appearance of the first one. It was Kai, the chamberlain of the castle, crawling away from something as if in fright. Standing in front of her, it was almost as if he were running from her. And he wasn't the only one there. Others were in various states of fright and flight. Gerda, Olina, and several others. The ice these sculptures were made out of were blue, and not at all opaque. As if they were hiding a life under the surface that had been snuffed out. That was what stuck to the blonde girl the most. Just how realistic their horrified expressions seemed to be.

All of them seemed to be leading to the main courtyard.

At this point, Elsa was practically against going forward. Her better judgement was screaming it. And yet, somehow, she knew she had to keep going. Anna was there. She was sure of it.

Proceeding past the large entry doors, Elsa found herself in a winter's nightmare. Harsh icicles and frost lined everything everywhere. The fountains were frozen over, the water jagged and menacing. Uneven spikes of ice ran along the castle walls and rooftops, a warning to anyone who would dare to attempt to uncover the secret within Arendelle Castle.

And in the middle of the courtyard were her parents, their backs turned to Elsa.

A wave of relief - almost as if breathing fresh air for the first time - washed over Elsa as she somehow found the energy to run to her mother and father.

"_Mama! Papa!_" she greeted in joy. "What-what's happening?! Where's Anna? Why's everything...?!"

As soon as she was within five feet, her father quickly snapped up to his feet, and swung a concealed sword at her. Arching back in shock, Elsa fell onto her rear, crawling away from the king.

"Pa-Papa, what?!" she whimpered, eyes wide in stupefied hurt.

"_Stay back, you! Stay away from us!_" her father snapped, his face a furious expression she had never ever seen before. Not even with their usual mischief before did their father ever glare at them with such anger; such hatred.

"Papa?" What was going on? Why was he so angry at her. "Papa, it's me! Elsa, your daughter!"

"No," the king countered, pointing his blade directly at her. "You are no daughter of mine! You are a witch! Out of control!"

...What?...

"No, no! Papa, I'm concealing it! _I'm concealing it!_"

"_No, you didn't!_"

"Papa, please..." Glancing over to her hunched mother, Elsa pleaded with her. "Mama, please! Help!"

The queen made no indication that she had heard her daughter.

"She cannot help you, you abomination!" King Agnarr snapped, waving his sword in dismissal. "No one can!"

Elsa shook her head in disbelief. "P-Papa, I don't know why you're being mean to me, but you have to stop it! I heard Anna scream earlier! We have to help her!"

"_Don't you get it, you cruel child?! We CAN'T help her! No one can!_" the king raged, startling the child even more to her limit, of which she had already gone past.

Never before had she seen her father so furious, and with such ill-intent. But why? What was it that made him so malicious now? And why was he saying these things?

"She can't be helped... Not anymore."

And for the first time since she had last seen him, genuine emotion other than fury fell upon her father's features. This time, however, it was sorrow that was in his eyes. Gesturing towards her mother, the Queen finally turned towards their little girl.

And in her arms...

"_...No..._"

Elsa froze then and there. And this time, it wasn't the ice that was responsible for the deathly chill.

It was the sight of her sister, frozen solid, cradled in the weeping arms of her mother.

"No..." Elsa whispered, tears welling up again, one escaping down her right cheek. "Anna... _No...!_"

"You see?" the king seethed, the previous hateful fire from before returning to his voice. "If you had only controlled it... If you had only concealed your power, this wouldn't have happened! Your sister is _dead..._ because of _YOU!_"

"_NOOOO!_" Elsa cried, shaking her head as her hands went to caress the sides of her face. "Papa, Mama, I...! I-I'm sorry! I don't know how I... I-I didn't mean to!"

"And anyone who would hurt their younger sister in such a terrible way... is no daughter of mine!"

With that declaration, a resounding boom came from the castle gates, catching the frightened princess' attention. Then another, which was the one that forced the gates open. And from that gap came a mob of angry Arendellians, wielding all sorts of pitchforks, torches, and other assortments found with a rioting mob.

"_There she is!_" a angry woman shouted, pointing an incriminating finger towards the young princess.

"_Kill the sorceress!_" another voice, an older male, cried out, much to the resounding chorus of agreements.

Stiffening like a rat in a trap, Elsa reeled back as the lynch mob approached, her hands held up in front of her. "N-no! No, I'm not a witch! I'm not- _AH!_"

In response to her denials, the storm inside unleashed some its power, creating a barricade of sharp icicles in front of the group, cutting off their approach, if just barely.

"You see?! She tried to freeze us now, she did!" an angry boy cried.

"No! No, I-I didn't!" she denied, breath coming in small gasps now.

"_To arms, my people! Let us rid ourselves of this blight in Arendelle!_" her father, the king, ordered.

Betrayed, Elsa could only step back once. Then her father swung his weapon at the icy barricade, shattering it, and leaving nothing between her and them. Visibly crying now, the princess rushed back towards the entrance, and inside the castle, only to find that the doors were closing before her. The hinges creaked loudly as they came to a close, trapping Elsa outside with the mob. Hyperventilating, she pushed herself back-first into the wall, watching in helpless terror as the would-be attackers came for her.

"Papa... Mama... Anna, please..."

"_Kill her!_"

"_Kill the witch!_"

"_Kill the monster!_"

"_AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!_"

* * *

"_GAH!_"

Elsa darted up from her spot at the head of her bed, wheezing sharply at what she had just witnessed. Looking around, her eyes scanned what she could see of her room before she had gone to sleep.

Indeed, everything looked the same. No doors opened. No mist coming out from the hallway. Even the blinds over her bed that she had asked her mother to bring down for this very special occasion.

After waiting silently for another minute, the magical girl let out a sigh great relief. A nightmare. That had all been nothing but a dream.

And yet... it felt so _real._

_TAP-TAP!_

"_Hey, are you okay?!_"

The oldest princess let out an annoyed groan. That voice was the reason why she had asked for the bed's blinds to be pulled down in the first place.

Peering over the edge of her blinds with a narrowed glare, the princess could just make out the mysterious flying boy who had been hounding her all day. He was still in the same perch she had seen him on before turning in. However, ever since she had dismissed him earlier, he hadn't said a single word, or shoved that piece of paper he had on her window.

He looked worried, in fact. But Elsa knew that in spite how worried he was - if it were even true - she couldn't let him in.

She couldn't let _anyone_ in.

"Hey, you alright in there?!" he asked again, tapping on the window three times with his odd, G-shaped staff he carried with.

With an ungraceful, indignant huff, the child grabbed one of her cushions, and chucked it to the window, where it impacted the glass harmlessly, but still managed to startle the boy, who hadn't seen it coming. Realizing what had happened, the youth looked back towards her with an unimpressed expression, before scoffing without mirth.

"Well, _sorry,_ princess. Just wanted to see if you were still with us..."

Sticking her tongue towards him, she then fell back on her cushions, and purposefully looked away from him.

Though she didn't see him, the stranger waved his hand dismissively in her direction, before looking away. Returning to his perch, he then glanced over his shoulder once more, a melancholy look flashing in his eyes, before slouching over in a brooding manner.

Crossing her arms, Elsa shut her eyes tightly, hoping to fall back asleep. However, her brief annoyance and determination to avoid the young man quickly eroded upon the memory of what she had dreamed about.

Her home frozen. The servants frozen. _Anna_ frozen. And all of Arendelle going after her. Her _parents_ going after her.

In truth, it made her want to stay awake. What if she slept, and the only thing waiting for her was all of those scary, angry faces? Or worse, the lifeless ones.

No, Elsa wouldn't be getting sleep for the time being.

Laying flat on her back, the princess decided to let her mind wander to her surroundings. Noticing how well her drapes were at casting shadows over her bed, Elsa had to wonder if that was the reason why she had her nightmare. Usually, she was okay with sleeping, since the northern lights kept her room illuminated even at night. But seeing as her intruder wasn't gone yet, she figured hiding from him would make him go away. It worked with her sister, after all.

Still, it was really dark. If the drapes surrounded her whole bed, it would be pitch black.

"...at am I doing wrong?"

Sitting up, the young princess' eyebrows dipped in irritation, once again turning towards her visitor. Peering slightly to the side of the curtain, she could see the snowy-haired lad was talking. What was odd, however, was that he wasn't talking to her. The question hadn't even been directed at her. He wasn't even looking at her.

Was he crazy? That would explain why he couldn't take a hint.

As the boy kept talking, there were times where he would raise his voice, gesturing towards her, and then to nothing in particular. This odd behavior was beginning to pique Elsa's curiosity.

Whomever this boy was, he was putting Arendelle in danger by continuing to prod her. Why, she didn't know, but she had a feeling that if she overheard what he was saying, she could probably get a good idea. It was hardly ideal, nor would it have been her first choice, but nobody else could see him. Mama, Papa, Anna, nor the guards.

It was up to her, then. If he presented a threat to her, the kingdom, and her family, then Elsa was gonna be the one to stop him.

Slinking away quietly to the edge furthest from the window, she hopped off the bed, careful as to not put on her slippers, so as to not make a sound. Crouching close to the ground, she scrabbled over to the foot of the bed. Inching her head forward slightly, her eyes glared at the unsuspecting youth, who was still too focused on his own ramblings. Taking a deep breath, the princess then slithered ever so softly over to the right side of her window, making extra sure she was quiet, so as to not grab the stranger's attention.

A common misconception was that Anna was the more rambunctious and rebellious one, sneaking around, stealing sweets, and other sorts of mischief.

What people often overlooked was that Elsa was the one she learned that from.

Leaning against the wall, the little girl sidled around the edge, managing to get a good look at the boy as he spoke to himself, eyes narrowing in focus.

"I mean, _c'mon!_ You're seriously okay with this?!" he cried out, gesturing towards her bed. He thought she was still asleep in her bed. Just like she wanted him to.

"Yeah, sure, I might've screwed up today, but can you blame me? I've been talking to people who didn't talk back for years. How am I supposed to know what to do when somebody actually _does?_ Just watching others do it doesn't necessarily mean I'm gonna know what to say or do. Which is why you've gotta be the one to help me, here!"

"...There's a little girl in there who's scared of herself, and nobody knows how to help her except me. Not one of your 'Guardians!' _Me!_ I'm practically the only person in this whole entire world who can help her with this! Help her end this... this... _thing!_ This stupid thing where she has to hide away from the world and her family, when she doesn't even have to! When, really, she should be taking time to have fun with her sister!"

"You help children, right? So let me help her! Tell me how! How do I get her to... to _not_ be afraid of me?! Because she _shouldn't_ be afraid of me! I'm the least scariest thing out here! All I want to do is help her control her powers, and have fun again! How do I get her to understand that?!"

...Help her control her powers? How could he do that?

More importantly, _could_ he do that?

"...Nothing?! _Really?!_" he snapped with gritted teeth. "You put me here, only to have me stumble blindly for years, not knowing why people were ignoring me, or why I was there! And now, I'm not invisible anymore! Someone I can actually talk to - actually _help_ \- is finally here! And right when she needs my help the most, you're just gonna stay silent like always, while she suffers in that silence?!... And you're okay with that?!"

The boy had thrown his arms to the side, glaring angrily up to the moon. Why he was doing that, Elsa didn't know. She did, however, see him slouch in defeat, bringing his hands to his face, his crook positioned safely around the hook of his right arm.

After waiting a few minutes, the princess figured that he had finished talking to whatever person he was talking to. If this unseen person was his boss, he sure didn't seem to like him. Regardless, a lot of new information was gleamed from that one-sided exchange, which needed to be processed.

He said he'd wandered for years, which meant he was older than he looked. It made sense, of course, given that his hair was white, like an old man's-

With a wave of his staff, the young man conjured snow.

.

.

.

.

Her world stopped.

Elsa kept her eyes trained on the boy while she had been going over what she had overheard, which had given her a front row seat to this display. From where she stood, the Snow Princess saw that frost had enveloped the section where his hand was holding his staff. And with a wave, a trail of snowflakes had followed.

Eyes wide, mouth slacked in awe, the blonde little girl watched as he let the flakes fall over his free hand. There, one landed between his fingers, to which he flipped around, letting it roll across his hand like a coin.

Finally, after letting the flake flutter away with a defeated sigh, the youth looked over his shoulder towards her bed, forcing her to hide behind the wall. From what little she could see, the stranger had a defeated, sad look in his eye, before shaking his head, and raising his staff. Then, after waving it, harsh winds rapped against the glass, before carrying him away, flying off to destinations unknown.

Elsa ran up to the window, hands pressed against the windowpane, as if doing so would open it, and lead her to the answers she had been seeking for so long. She was still struggling to understand what exactly she had seen, or how, but from what she saw, she now knew one thing to be true.

There was someone out there who was a little bit like her.

* * *

_TAP-TAP. TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP._

"Hey, uh, Elsa?" Jack called out softly as he stood in front of Arendelle's oldest princess' door.

It was still early in the morning, so he didn't want to catch her off guard. But he knew she usually was already awake at this time before everyone else, and had hoped to take this chance to clear the air over the day before.

"It's me. You know, the guy with the sign?... Just wanted to say that... Um... Well, first off, _happy birthday!_ Secondly, er... I kinda thought about how I was going about things yesterday... And realized that, well... I probably didn't do a good job introducing myself properly. Talk about your first impressions, huh?"

Running a hand through his white locks. he grimaced in embarrassment. "So, to that end, I... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry... Y'know, if I scared you. Because I don't want you to be scared of me. I'm not a monster, promise. Just a guy, who... tends to get carried away, at times... A lot."

"So, I just wanted to ask..." he shrugged helplessly. "Maybe we can start over?..."

No one responded from the other side.

Then, grinning knowingly, Jack lifted his bargaining chip. "...I brought chocolate!"

Indeed, in his free hand was a plate full of different chocolates, each truffle decorated differently and elegantly.

"Yeah, they were gonna give it to you later, but hey. It's never too early for some chocolate, am I right?" the immortal boy coaxed.

Again, Elsa did not respond. As he kept waiting, his smile dipped into a frown.

"...Hey, you're still not asleep, are you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow curiously. "C'mon, kid. I'm not gonna bite... Except for the chocolate. Y'know, if you decide you wanna share. Could happen."

Yeah, what were the odds of that? A kid sharing candy with a stranger.

A stranger... _who was trying to goad a kid with candy?!_

Oh heavens, how had it not occurred to him before?! That dirty trick had only been used for _ages!_

"Okay, _whoa!_ Oh no! No! No, no, no! I wasn't trying to, like, be creepy, or anything! I just wanted to, you know... It-it was a peace offering! Though, technically, it was still yours, and... _GAH!_"

Frost shook his head roughly, stepping away.

"No, you know what? I'll come back later with a different peace offering! One that's less creepy, and more... _peaceful!_ Yeah! Look, the chocolate won't even be a problem!" In his panic, he started shoving candy into his mouth. "Shee?! Whon't ehven be a probhlem!... No, whait, ith's shtill yours! Whait hup!..."

*_CREEEEEAAAK_*

The screeching echo that came from behind him stopped Jack Frost dead in his tracks. Slowing looking over his right shoulder, he saw that Elsa's door was slightly ajar. Eyes wide with both surprise and confusion, he audibly gulped down the chewed up chocolate in his mouth, before fully turning to face the door.

"Uh, Princess?" he asked, eyes furrowing warily.

Stepping forward, he used his staff to push it open.

"Hey, kid? You even in here-"

*_CLACK_*

...The last thing Jack would remember - other than the large weight clashing with the top of his head - were his own words.

"Look, Printhess!... _Snowflakes!..._"

With that, Jack Frost fell to the floor, chocolates spread out across it, joining the shards of broken ice already there. Then he lost consciousness.

* * *

If anyone out in the hall early in the morning Believed, they would see Jack Frost's unconscious heap get dragged inside Princess Elsa of Arendelle's chambers, before the door closed with a resounding *_BOOM!_*

* * *

**-CHAPTER SIX END**

* * *

**AN: FROZEN II IS HERE!**

**Anyway, wanted to get this done before the release, but it already came out in other countries, apparently? It's out in the wild.**

**Also, the TAP-TAP. TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP is meant to sound out as "Jack Frost's nipping at your nose."**

**Was that a cameo from a certain someone this chapter?... Guess you'll have to wait and see.**

**Depending on what Frozen II brings, I'll probably end up changing the prologue. Probably, so, since Frozen II explains why Elsa has her powers. Don't worry, though, got a plan already in mind that'll connect it back to the Guardians.**

**And for the record, the story isn't meant to go from day to day. At some point, once after Elsa gets he gloves, chapters are gonna skip ahead by year. Only three points are meant to be elaborated on. The beginning, middle, and end of Do You Wanna Build A Snowman. Those are the ones where Elsa and Anna will be the same age for more than one particular chapter.**

**And, of course, the coronation.**

**Thank you guys so much for reading, again. Next time I update, it will be in a post Frozen II world.**

**Until then... **

**READ & REVIEW!**

* * *

**Next Chapter: Why Jack Frost ditched his shawl.**


	8. UPDATE FROM THE AUTHOR

**Hey, y'all. Been a while.**

**Just wanted to drop in a quick follow up.**

**I apologize for how long this took me to do, but I've finally managed to update my current chapters to go along with what happens in Frozen II. The biggest changes are in the Prologue, which is now shorter than it was originally, as well as Chapter 2, which now goes along with Frozen II's opening. Check them out whenever you can.**

**A lot has happened since I last wrote for this story. COVID-19 happened, and unfortunately I was laid off from my job because of it. Though I was never planning to discontinue this fic or my other story, I did lose my drive to write for a while there. I was depressed, to be honest.**

**Fortunately, things have been picking up for me lately. I found a new job, and I did move from where I used to live. I've finally managed to come up with a setup and time for when I can write, so I'm getting back to the swing of things.**

**Unfortunately, the next update for this story will be a little while yet. I've been neglecting my other story - admittedly my magnum opus - for too long, and want to get to work to finish the next chapter sometime next month. I will delete this notice when I do post the next chapter.**

**But rest assured, THIS FIC IS VERY MUCH ALIVE.**

**In the meantime, I'm still asking for ideas of prompts/situations to fill up the gaps between the years for Jack and Elsa between when they meet and Agnarr and Idina's deaths, so if you have any, feel free to share.**

**Especially if you're coming from You-Know-Where. ;) **

**Until then, stay awesom. And remember...**

**READ & REVIEW!**


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